2025 Distinguished Professor Award

To recognize individuals that have had a positive, stimulating, and nurturing influence upon students.

Deadline: October 9, 2024

Extended Deadline to provide opportunities
for members impacted by Hurricane Helene

Criteria

Candidates should provide evidence of their impact on students directly and indirectly in areas of teaching, scholarship, and service. Candidates should not present themselves in the context of a single area. Instead, the submittals should make a case for the candidate’s achievements that reflects the integration of all three areas into a career arc. Teaching accomplishment should reflect a positive, stimulating, and nurturing influence upon students. Scholarly achievement may occur through various modes of production or dissemination, including, but not limited to, design-based work (including creative or critical practice) or other forms of scholarship that together produces a body of work that advances understanding of architecture and/or architectural education. Service work may occur within the context of a university or on a local, community, national, or international basis. Submittals should document achievements in service in terms of their impact on architectural education and/or practice.

Eligibility

Faculty members in ACSA full-member and candidate-member schools for a minimum of 10 years are eligible, as well as persons, faculty or not, whose activities have clearly been identified with those institutions. The achievements must have occurred during the period of appointment. No postmortem awards will be made. Any faculty member, administrator, or student at an ACSA full-member and candidate-member school may nominate a candidate for the ACSA Distinguished Professor Award.

Nomination Documentation

All materials are to be submitted through the online system by the nominator or nominee; once the nomination is finalized all parties will receive a confirmation email. The résumé and supporting letters are best uploaded as PDF documents. The supporting material (portfolio) must not exceed a total of 20, 8.5″ x 11″ pages, be submitted in PDF format, and not exceed 20MB. All material must be submitted by October 9, 2024 (Extended Deadline), online and the submitter must have an ACSA account and log into the ACSA website in order to submit.

Candidates should prepare a curated dossier to provide a full and rich picture of the candidate’s impact on students and architectural education. Each submission shall contain the following information:

  • Candidate Name.
  • Biographical Statement: No more than 300-words. The statement should be a narrative introduction to the candidate and the candidate’s career.
  • Letter of Nomination: A letter explaining the reasons for the nomination according to the established criteria, not to exceed one page (PDF format).
  • Curriculum Vitae: focusing on the achievements of the candidate, no more than 10 pages (PDF format).
  • Supporting Letters: No more than three supporting letters from persons qualified to comment upon the significance of the specific achievements of the candidate. At least one letter must come from a student who is currently enrolled in the candidate’s architecture degree program, or a student who was enrolled at the candidate’s institution within the last three years. The student supporting letter must specify the most recent academic term when the student was enrolled at the faculty member’s institution. (No more than 1 page each, in separate PDF format).
  • Supporting Material: To provide evidence of the candidate’s achievements in the areas of teaching, scholarship, and service. Nominees should situate the evidence of their achievements within the breadth of the architecture discipline. (Not to exceed a total of 20, 8.5″ x 11″ pages, in PDF format, no more than 20MB).

For each project referenced in your Supporting Material, you will need to document the following in your PDF submission.
Project Title:
Month/Year Completed:
Role of Nominee (in the project):
Collaborators & Funding Sources Expenses:
(Sample Text: 4 non-profit employees donated X amount of hours in the collaboration, 1 electrician paid for X amount of hours – their scope included outlets, running conduit etc.)
Student Compensation (Indicate whether students received credit or were financially compensated, within the guidelines of the institution):
(Sample Text: 3 students working as paid research assistants for X amount of hours, 15 students contributed to this project for a 5-credit studio course etc.)

Nominations for the Distinguished Professor Award will remain active in consideration for three years. Candidates will have the option to update information in subsequent years.

REQUIRED

DOCUMENTATION

 

Collaboration

ACSA seeks to empower faculty and schools to educate increasingly diverse students, expand disciplinary impacts, and create knowledge for the advancement of architecture. ACSA leads architectural education and research by demonstrating the value of architectural education and research to practice and society, by advancing architectural pedagogy, and by serving as the voice of architectural education. ACSA’s core values include: Equity, Social Justice, Climate Action, Teaching,Learning, Research, Scholarship, and Creative Practice. Through the architecture educational awards program, ACSA demonstrates best practices.

ACSA understands work submitted to the awards programs is created through collaboration with students, organizations, firms, communities, and/or industry partners. ACSA advocates for fair labor practices in architecture education and awards submissions must represent the best practices in the field.

Therefore, award submissions must acknowledge all work performed in collaboration and must be properly credited. Submissions should include the information listed below including compensation for student work and/or firm support. This could be student earned course credit, firm work/resources, or financial contributions. The supporting material will need to clearly denote all collaborating parties involved, and their roles for each project.

2025 DP Award Jurors

Mary Anne Akers
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

David Hinson
Auburn University

Marcelo Lopez-Dinardi
Texas A&M University

Vikramaditya Prakash
University of Washington

Mo Zell
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Notices
  • All materials for nominations and submissions must be uploaded online in one complete package. Any incomplete documentation will not be accepted.
  • Projects that have previously been recognized by ACSA will not be considered.
  • A candidate may be considered for this award and the AIA/ACSA Topaz Medallion simultaneously. In such cases, the nomination must be submitted for each award separately, according to the conditions of required documentation.
  • ACSA stands firmly against unpaid labor. In support of the American Institute of Architecture Students’ (AIAS) resolution on unpaid interns, ACSA does not allow partners or firms who do not pay their interns, in accordance with all applicable laws, to submit work for ACSA publications or to receive ACSA awards. (Intern refers to those individuals participating in AXP or equivalent required training and includes working students.) Nomination or submission to the ACSA Awards Program constitutes your understanding of this agreement.
  • Current ACSA Board of Directors members may not submit nominating or supporting letters.
  • Award winners are expected to register and attend the ACSA Annual Meeting.
  • By submitting your project, you certify that you have granted ACSA permission to use all graphics included.
Questions

Edwin Hernández-Ventura
Programs Coordinator
tel: 202-785-2324
email: ehernandez@acsa-arch.org

Eric W. Ellis
Senior Director of Operations and Programs
tel: 202-785-2324
email: eellis@acsa-arch.org