Troy, NY - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Dean of Architecture Evan Douglis is among four individuals to be honored by the Cooper Union Alumni Association at their Founder’s Day Celebration on April 26, 2015.

Douglis will be presented with the John Q. Hejduk Award, given to a graduate of the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture who has made an outstanding contribution to the theory, teaching and/or practice of architecture. The award has been presented since 2003 to a recipient who reflects the passion and commitment that John Hejduk, Cooper Union faculty member from 1964 to 2000 and dean of the School of Architecture from 1975 to 2000, had for architecture.

“I am very honored to receive this distinguished award from The Cooper Union. John Hejduk’s international reputation as a visionary educator, administrative leader and architect continues to have a resounding impact on our discipline today,” Douglis said. “His focus on the poetics of architecture from a literary, design and cultural perspective had a transformative influence on redefining the education of the architect during the second half of the 20^th century. Inspired by a range of innovative thinkers throughout history, he brought an interdisciplinary agenda into the forefront of our discipline always advocating for architecture as a deeply creative and ethical endeavor. It is a profound honor for me to be associated with such a seminal figure in our profession.”

The School of Architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute was recently ranked the 14^th best undergraduate program in the nation by the journal DesignIntelligence. The journal’s “America’s Best Architecture & Design Schools 2015” list was based on surveys of architecture and design professionals, which asked several questions including: “In your firm’s hiring experience in the past five years, which schools are best preparing students for success in the profession?”

Additionally, DesignIntelligence named Douglis as among the 30 most admired educators in the field of architecture education. The journal praised Douglis for his simultaneous focus on advancing students’ careers and studies. “A personable, design-oriented Dean, Evan Douglis is an inspirational leader, pushing for the advancement of the school,” DesignIntelligence wrote.

Founded in 1824, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is the oldest technological research university in the United States. As it approaches its bicentennial anniversary, the Institute continues to define The New Polytechnic, a new paradigm for teaching, learning, and research that uses advanced technologies to enable fresh collaborations across disciplines, sectors, and regions, in order to answer the global challenges of our day.

The School of Architecture at Rensselaer offers two undergraduate programs, the five-year Bachelor of Architecture degree and the four-year Bachelor of Science in Building Sciences degree. The school also offers several graduate degrees in architecture, including a three-and-a-half-year Master of Architecture (professional) degree, and a one-year Master in Architecture II (post-professional) degree.

Additionally, the following internationally renowned graduate research programs reside within the school, providing an outstanding interdisciplinary environment within which to study next-generation architectural buildings: the Center for Architecture Science and Ecology (CASE); the Lighting Research Center (LRC); and Architectural Acoustics.

Douglis is the principal of Evan Douglis Studio, an internationally renowned architecture and interdisciplinary design firm committed to the practice of digital alchemy. His leading-edge research into computer-aided digital design and fabrication technology, new materials, and multimedia installations as applied to a range of diverse gallery installations, commercial projects, and more recently a series of prefabricated modular building assembly systems has elicited international acclaim.

Prior to joining Rensselaer in 2009, Douglis was the chair of the undergraduate department at Pratt institute, an associate assistant professor and the director of the architecture galleries at Columbia University, and a visiting instructor at the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at the Cooper Union.

Douglis’ accomplishments have been recognized with a number of awards, including a New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship, a Design Vanguard profile by Architectural Record, an I.D. Magazine Honorable Mention, a Peopleʼs Restaurant Choice Award from the American Institute of Architects Los Angeles, and many others. His work has been exhibited at the SAM Swiss Architecture Museum, ARCHILAB in Orléans, France, the MOCA Museum at the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles, Artist Space in New York, and the Rotterdam and London Biennales. His Helioscope project is in the permanent architecture collection at the FRAC Centre in Orleans, France.