The first of four candidates for dean of the Kansas University School of Architecture, Design and Planning will visit campus next week.

Mahesh Daas, chair of the Department of Architecture at Ball State University, will give a public presentation from 4:15 to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at The Forum in Marvin Hall, 1465 Jayhawk Blvd. A reception will follow.

The other three architecture dean candidates are expected to visit campus Feb. 12-13, Feb. 17-18 and Feb. 24-25. KU will publicly name those candidates shortly before their visits.

Prior to joining Ball State, Daas served as the associate dean for academic affairs and research of the College of Architecture at the University of Texas at San Antonio and as a visiting assistant professor at Kansas State University. He also worked with professional firms in Chicago and Kansas City.

Current architecture dean John Gaunt will step down at the end of the spring semester after 20 years in the job.