Sarah Whiting, dean of the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, was awarded the American Institute of Architects/Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Topaz Medallion for Architectural Education. The award is presented to an individual who has had a significant impact on architectural education and the discipline and practice of architecture.
Dr. Whiting, the Josep Lluís Sert Professor of Architecture, took the helm of Harvard’s Graduate School of Design in July 2019, making her the first woman to hold the position. Before Harvard, Dr. Whiting spent nine years as dean of the School of Architecture at Rice University in Houston, Texas. She has taught at several other universities throughout her career, including Princeton University, the University of Kentucky, the Illinois Institute of Technology, and the University of Florida.
As a scholar of architectural theory and urbanism, Dr. Whiting conducts extensive research regarding architecture’s relationship with politics, economics, and society, and how the built environment shapes the nature of public life. Outside of academia, Dr. Whiting is the design principal and co-founder of WW Architecture.
A graduate of Yale University, Dr. Whiting earned her master of architecture degree from Princeton University and her Ph.D. in the history and theory of architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.