University of Pennsylvania Professor David Leatherbarrow has been awarded the 2020 Topaz Medallion by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA). The award is presented by the two organization every year to superlative educators who "educate others to ensure architecture’s enduring excellence."

Professor Leatherbarrow has been an architectural educator for over three decades—he stated teaching at UPenn in 1984—and is considered, according to a statement announcing the award, as "one of the world’s leading experts in the history and theory of architecture."

In a statement supporting his award nomination, Kenneth Frampton, the Ware Professor of Architecture at Columbia University, writes, “This is an outstanding teacher of exceptional energy and ambition. He has been invited as a visiting tutor and scholar quite literally by distinguished institutions all over the world. What can one say? Elite teachers in architectural schools do not come more distinguished than this.”

Over his distinguished career, Leatherbarrow has supervised 30 dissertations, served as associate dean, department chair, and PhD program chair for two decades, and has acted as an interim leader for the Stuart Weitzman School of Design's urban design and undergraduate architecture programs, among other professional and academic accomplishments. 

Over this time, Leatherbarrow has also written 11 books, 140 scholarly essays and articles, and has appeared more than 100 times at conferences, often in a keynote speaker role, according to the medallion announcement.