The American Institute of Architects jointly with the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture has today announced Yale School of Architecture Dean Deborah Berke, FAIA as the 2022 recipient of the Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education. 

Berke, who has served as Dean at Yale since 2016, was commended for her “engaged approach in every graduate architecture student’s education” in addition to the initiatives that she has spearheaded during her tenure in New Haven, which include the introduction of an undergraduate Urban Studies major, the creation of Yale’s Center for Ecosystems in Architecture as well as the school’s first architectural sciences lab.

Relisten to Archinect's 2016 podcast conversation One-to-One #41 with Deborah Berke

Berke was also lauded for her efforts to diversify the school and for leading an initiative to tackle and investigate the issue of slave labor in the construction supply chain. 

The 67-year-old Berke began her teaching career shortly after completing her own studies at the Rhode Island School of Design, founding an initiative for high school students at the New York Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies. Since then, Berke has gone on to hold academic positions at RISD, UC Berkeley, and the University of Miami in addition to running her own Manhattan-based practice called Deborah Berke Partners, which she founded in 1982.

An AIA statement mentioned her firm’s success in “[increasing] the number of women and partners of color while reinforcing a multigenerational leadership structure,” adding that “in her roles as professor and practitioner, Berke has evolved critical design thinking and equipped tomorrow’s architects with the skills to face pressing societal and environmental challenges for the greater good. Her insightful leadership and distinct contributions to the profession ensure that her influence will continue to reverberate for generations.”