MARILYN J. TAYLOR became Dean of PennDesign in October 2008 after practicing as an architect and urban designer at Skidmore Owings & Merrill, where she led the firm’s practices in airports and transportation and in urban design. She is internationally known for her distinguished and passionate involvement in the design of large-scale urban projects and civic initiatives.  Taylor is distinguished as well for her civic and professional leadership, having served as a member of The Partnership for New York City, president of the American Institute of Architects (NYC Chapter), chairman of the Urban Land Institute, visiting professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and a founding member of the New York New Visions Design and Planning Coalition. Taylor is an Iowa native and a 1969 graduate of Radcliffe College. She attended the MIT Graduate School of Architecture (1969-70), and received her M. Arch. in 1974 from the University of California, Berkeley.