Architecture professor named president of national association

FIU Professor Marilys Nepomechie is the new president of ACSA.

Professor of Architecture Marilys Nepomechie has been elected president of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA). She is taking on this position a year after her election to ACSA’s Board of Directors as vice president/president-elect.

The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture is a nonprofit, membership association founded in 1912 to advance the quality of architectural education. School membership in ACSA has grown from 10 charter members to more than 250 schools in several membership categories. Through these schools, more than 5,000 architecture faculty are represented by ACSA. In addition, more than 500 supporting members composed of architecture firms, product associations and individuals add to the breadth of interest and support of ACSA goals.

“For over a century, ACSA has been the pre-eminent voice for architecture education in the United States – and increasingly, abroad,”  Nepomechie says. “I feel honored by the prospect of working closely with its board of directors and staff on behalf of architecture programs, their faculty and students. Particularly, I look forward to the tremendous opportunity it represents for bringing Florida International University and the College of Architecture + The Arts to the forefront of national and international debate on emerging practices in professional and arts education.”

ACSA, unique in its representative role for schools of architecture, provides a forum for ideas on the leading edge of architectural thought. Issues that will affect the future of the profession and the discipline of architecture are being examined today in ACSA member schools. The association maintains a variety of activities that serve to influence, communicate, and record the work of architecture programs and faculty – nationally and internationally. Such endeavors include annual scholarly meetings; workshops; publications; awards, exhibition and competition programs; support for architectural research and faculty mentorship; and policy development.

As president of the Association’s board of directors, Nepomechie will oversee ongoing programs as well as new initiatives. She will work with the ACSA board and staff to address concerns of member schools, including funding challenges; program affordability; online education; accreditation; curricular restructuring; and the need for increasing student and faculty diversity.

Marilys R. Nepomechie, FAIA, is a registered architect. Her writing, research, urban design and building projects focus on the cultural, social, and environmental contexts of design. Included in the archives of the U.S. National Building Museum, the work of her practice has been honored with numerous professional and academic awards, national and international exhibition and wide publication. Her design work, in collaboration with FIU Professor Marta Canavés, ASLA, has earned a National Honor Award in Urban and Regional Design–the highest distinction bestowed by the national chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

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