Dean of The Bartlett to join the Royal College of Art as President and Vice-Chancellor

Professor Christoph Lindner has served as Dean of The Bartlett, UCL’s Faculty of the Built Environment, since 2019. He will be moving on to a new role as President and Vice-Chancellor of the Royal College of Art (RCA) in April 2024. 

Christoph is Professor of Urban Studies at UCL and an interdisciplinary scholar of cities and visual culture, with a career spanning 20 years of leadership at universities in the United States and Europe.  

In his time at The Bartlett, Christoph has guided the faculty’s staff and student community through the global pandemic, and our expansion into the cutting-edge new UCL East campus. 

He has spearheaded the launch of the largest built environment scholarship scheme of its kind, The Bartlett Promise, which is now enabling over 25 students per year to study at The Bartlett and opening up a more diverse pipeline of talent for the built environment professions.  

He has also launched the Race and Spatial Justice Recruitment Focus to create a hub of world-leading scholarship in our faculty on race and spatial justice within the built environment, along with a number of initiatives to champion equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing for our staff and student community. 

Christoph’s personal commitment to the people and community in the faculty, and his vision for social justice and climate action, will leave a lasting legacy with The Bartlett.   

Christoph said: “The Bartlett is such a unique and inspiring place, bringing together a talented, ambitious, and passionate community of staff and students that I have been privileged to work with. I am constantly impressed by the originality and urgency of the work happening in our faculty, as well as optimistic about our collective ability to make real, positive change in the world.  

“I am so grateful for the time I’ve spent at The Bartlett, and for the opportunity to play a role alongside our community in shaping both our faculty and the future of the built environment. I can’t wait to see all that The Bartlett will continue to achieve in the future.” 

The UCL leadership team will begin a search process to appoint a successor for the role of Dean of The Bartlett. As this process may take several months, they will also be appointing an Interim Dean from April 2024.