Donald R. Gordon has been named interim university architect, effective Jan. 8.

As associate university architect at Cornell, Gordon has overseen such projects as the Lynah Rink expansion, Beck Center addition, renovation of the School of Hotel Administration, and Schoellkopf Stadium addition.

He succeeds Peter Karp, who retired Nov. 10 after a decade at Cornell. An active search is under way for Karp's permanent successor.

The university architect has a major role in all campus planning activities and is responsible for the consistency of campus buildings and renovations. Duties include selection, management and mentoring of outside architects on capital projects and presentation of designs to the university and the board of trustees.

Gordon will report directly to Kyu Whang, vice president for facilities services.

"We are fortunate that Don is able to step in and fill this very important position at such a critical time in the development of our campus," Whang said in a statement. "He is a thoughtful and dedicated professional who is committed to excellence in everything he does. With the number of capital projects currently in the planning stages, Don will be able to provide the leadership we need to guide us through the foreseeable future."

Gordon came to Cornell four years ago from the Ford Motor Land Development Corp. in Grosse Pointe, Mich., where he was manager of construction services and facility planning manager. While at Ford, he helped design and construct facilities worldwide and served as a member of a select team involved in creating a strategic master space plan and corporate space guidelines for all nonproduction corporate facilities.

After receiving his Master of Architecture degree from the University of Michigan College of Architecture and Urban Planning in 1981, Gordon worked primarily in corporate design, concentrating on adaptive reuse projects.

"The challenges of modifying a facility originally designed for another use are many, but the rewards of salvaging such buildings make it worth the effort," Gordon said.