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ProPEL Winners Announced for 2026 Architectural Education Awards
PRESS RELEASE
Faculty Recognized for Excellence
in Architectural Education
For Immediate Release:
Washington D.C., January 21, 2026 – The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) is excited to announce the recipients of the 2026 Architectural Education Awards, which honor architectural educators for exemplary work in areas such as building design, community collaborations, scholarship, and service. The award-winning educators inspire and challenge students, advance the discipline’s knowledge base, and extend their work beyond the borders of academia into practice and the public sector. The 2026 Architectural Awards will be presented during the ACSA 114th Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL, March 26-28, 2026.
This year’s recipients are:
AIA/ACSA Topaz Medallion
Awarded to an individual who has had a significant impact on architectural education and the discipline and practice of architecture. Awarded in partnership with the American Institute of Architects (AIA).
Sarah M. Whiting | Harvard University
Distinguished Professor Award
Recognizes individuals who have had a positive, stimulating, and nurturing influence upon students.
Carla Jackson Bell | Tuskegee University
Phillip Bernstein | Yale University
Botond Bognar | University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Caryn Brause | University of Massachusetts Amherst
David Hughes | Kent State University
Richard Mohler | University of Washington
Eric P. Mumford | Washington University in St. Louis
Alan J. Plattus | Yale University
AIAS/ACSA New Faculty Teaching Award
Recognizes demonstrated excellence and innovation in teaching performance during the formative years of an architectural teaching career. Awarded in partnership with the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS).
Full-Time Faculty Winners
Andrew Gipe-Lazarou | Virginia Tech
May Khalife | Miami University
Leyuan Li | University of Colorado Denver
Part-Time Faculty Winner
Ashley Tannebaum | Boston Architectural College
Diversity Achievement Award
Recognizes the work of faculty, administrators, or students in creating effective methods and models to achieve greater diversity in curricula, school personnel, and student bodies, specifically to incorporate the participation and contributions of historically under-represented groups or contexts.
La Esperanza Community Center in Dallas, TX: Transforming a Vacant School Into a Community Hub Through Design, Diversity, and Collaboration
Lorena Toffer | University of Texas at Arlington
Diversity Achievement Honorable Mentions
Counter-Narratives: Thirteen Years of a Puerto Rican Decolonial Pedagogy
Yazmín Crespo Claudio | University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Omayra Rivera Crespo | University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras
Irmaris Santiago Rodríguez | University of Puerto Rico, Carolina
Disability and Design: Reframing Architectural Education Through Disability Justice
Gail Dubrow | University of Minnesota
Chelsea Wait | University of Minnesota
Laura Leppink | University of Minnesota
Creative Achievement Award
Recognizes a specific creative achievement in teaching, design, scholarship, research, or service that advances architectural education.
The Biophilic Region: A Vision for a Nature-Connected Future
Mona El Khafif | University of Virginia
Video Essays and Their Public Dissemination
Stewart Hicks | University of Illinois at Chicago
Where Is Denver’s Chinatown?
Leyuan Li | University of Colorado Denver
Collaborative Practice Award
Honors the best practices in school-based community outreach programs.
Beyond Wayfinding
Karla Sierralta | University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Brian Strawn | University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Kūhaʻo Zane | Sig Zane Designs and SZKaiao
Community Design & Action Capstone Studio: Tucson Hope Factory Micro Shelter Village
Teresa Rosano | University of Arizona
Greg Veitch | University of Arizona
Reframing Architecture: Engaged Practice for Community Preservation
Gorham Bird | Auburn University
With the Workforce
John Folan | University of Arkansas
Urban Design Build Studio (UDBS) AR Home CoLab | University of Arkansas
Faculty Design Award
Provides a venue for work that advances the reflective nature of practice and teaching by recognizing and encouraging creative design and design investigation in architecture and related environmental design fields. This award promotes work that expands the boundaries of design through, for example, but not limited to, formal investigations, innovative design process, addressing justice, working with communities, advancing sustainable practices, fostering resilience, and/or centering the human experience.
In the Shadow of the Cloud
Ali Fard | University of Virginia
Kiosk K67: System for Urban Imagination
Dijana Handanovic | University of Houston
Your Greenhouse Is Your Kitchen Is Your Living Room
Leyuan Li | University of Colorado Denver
Faculty Design Honorable Mentions
BoardWalk
Dillon Pranger | Illinois Institute of Technology
Christopher Battaglia | Cornell University
Hell & High Water House
Rafael Beneytez-Duran | University of Houston
Ophélia Mantz | University of Houston
Twenty Ways Home
Matt Burgermaster | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute/Parsons School of Design
Design-Build Award
Honors the best practices in school-based design-build projects.
Bird Blind Wetlands Observatory
Patrick Peters | University of Houston
Jason Logan | University of Houston
Joseph Colaco | University of Houston
CLT2: Phoenix House
Chad Kraus | University of Kansas
Rituals of Remembrance – A Healing Garden and Memorial for a University Campus
Scott Lawrence | University of Idaho
Urban Learning Greenhouse
Ken Marold | University of Oklahoma
Bryan Bloom | University of Oklahoma
AIA/ACSA Practice + Leadership Award
Recognizes “best practice” examples of highly effective teaching, scholarship, and outreach in the areas of professional practice and leadership. Awarded in partnership with the American Institute of Architects (AIA).
From Studio to Systems: A Research-Based Model for Architectural Education
Ming Hu | University of Notre Dame
ZoomSEs: Prototyping a Consultancy Design Studio Model for Advanced Structural Integration in Architecture
Thomas Fowler IV | California Polytechnic State University
Practice + Leadership Honorable Mention
Entrepreneurship Is Leadership: Redefining Professional Practice
Nea Maloo | Howard University
AIA/ACSA Housing Design Education Award
Recognizes the importance of good education in housing design to produce architects ready for practice in a wide range of areas and able to be capable leaders and contributors to their communities. Awarded in partnership with the American Institute of Architects (AIA).
Adaptable Housing: Selma, Alabama
Kevin Moore | Auburn University
Housing America: Exploring Ethics in Architecture
Ted Shelton | University of Tennessee-Knoxville
Tricia Stuth | University of Tennessee-Knoxville
Housing Without Displacement
John Dwyer | Thomas Jefferson University
TAD Research Contribution Award
Recognizes outstanding peer-reviewed research published in the Technology | Architecture + Design Journal.
Article from Volume 8.1: Climate
Predictive Model for Optimal Growth and Benefits of Exterior Building-Integrated Vegetation
Keith Van de Riet | University of Kansas
Eiman Graiz | University of Kansas
Article from Volume 8.2: Coding
Enhancing Outdoor Comfort: Leveraging Sky View Factor Analysis
Lei Xu | Future Cities Laboratory Global, Singapore-ETH Centre
Daniel K. H. Wong | Singapore University of Technology and Design
Srilalitha Gopalakrishnan | Future Cities Laboratory Global, Singapore-ETH Centre
Thomas Schroepfer | Singapore University of Technology and Design
Learn more about the 2026 winners HERE.
This year’s selection committees included:
Topaz Selection Committee
Robert Gonzalez, University of New Mexico
Marilys Nepomechie, Florida International University
Lee Anderson, Northeastern University
Jason J. DeMarco, Polyline Architecture+Urbanism
Latoya N. Kamdang, Ennead Architects
Distinguished Professor Selection Committee
Marleen Kay Davis, University of Tennessee
Jori Erdman, James Madison University
José Gámez, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Mohammad Gharipour, University of Maryland
Francisco J. Rodriguez-Suarez, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
New Faculty Teaching Selection Committee
Dahlia Nduom, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Noah Palmer, University of Oklahoma
Cathi Ho Schar, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Trevin Thompson, American Institute of Architecture Students
Diversity Achievement Selection Committee
Marcus Farr, American University of Sharjah
Andrew Gipe-Lazarou, Virginia Tech
Mo Zell, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Collaborative Practice Selection Committee
Katherine Ambroziak, University of Tennessee-Knoxville
Rachel Dickey, University of North Carolina Charlotte
Jeffrey Huber, Florida Atlantic University
Alexander Ortenberg, California State Polytechnic University
Housing Design Education Selection Committee
Jonathan Garland, JGE Architecture + Design
Marc Manack, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Dahlia Nduom, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Luis Rico-Gutierrez, Iowa State University
Creative Achievement Selection Committee
Uli Dangel, University of Oregon
Shelby Doyle, Iowa State University
David Hill, North Carolina State University
Faculty Design Selection Committee
David Baird, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Liz McCormick, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Rashida Ng, University of Pennsylvania
Karla Sierralta, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Design-Build Selection Committee
Andrew Chin, Florida A&M University
Phoebe Crisman, University of Virginia
Joshua Foster, East Los Angeles College
Emily McGlohn, Auburn University
Practice + Leadership Selection Committee
Roxanne Malek, SmithGroup
Hazem Rashed-Ali, Kennesaw State University
Jennifer Sisak, SISAK Advising PLLC
June Williamson, City College of New York
TAD Research Contribution Selection Committee
TAD Editorial Board
ACSA Board of Directors
Best Paper & Best Project Selection Committee
ACSA College of Distinguished Professor
ACSA Board of Directors
About the ACSA
Founded in 1912 by 10 charter members, ACSA has grown to represent over 200 schools in several membership categories, including full membership for all accredited programs in the United States and government-sanctioned schools in Canada, candidate membership for schools seeking accreditation, and affiliate membership for schools with two-year and international programs. Through these schools, over 6,000 architecture faculty are represented. The association maintains a variety of activities that influence, communicate, and record important issues, including journals, scholarly meetings, awards and competition programs, support for architectural research, policy development, and liaison with allied organizations. www.acsa-arch.org.
About the AIA
Founded in 1857, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) consistently works to create more valuable, healthy, secure, and sustainable buildings, neighborhoods, and communities. Through nearly 300 state and local chapters, the AIA advocates for public policies that promote economic vitality and public wellbeing. Members adhere to a code of ethics and conduct to ensure the highest professional standards. The AIA provides members with tools and resources to assist them in their careers and businesses. The AIA engages with civic and government leaders, as well as with the public, to find solutions to pressing issues facing our communities, institutions, nation, and world. Visit www.aia.org.
About the AIAS
The American Institute of Architecture Students is a non-profit, student-run organization dedicated to programs, information, and resources on issues critical to architecture and the experience of architectural education. For more information, visit www.aias.org.
Questions
Hanifah Jones
Digital Marketing & Communications Manager
202-785-2324 x5
hjones@acsa-arch.org
