Architecture Professor Garners National Teaching Award

SAN LUIS OBISPO -- Cal Poly architecture professor Stephen J. Phillips was awarded the New Faculty Teaching Award by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) and American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS).

The award recognizes demonstrated excellence in teaching performance during the formative years of an architectural teaching career.

The 2008-2009 ACSA awards were announced Dec. 5 in Washington, D.C. Phillips was one of three professors to receive the honor.

Phillips was nominated by Architecture Department Head Henri de Hahn who wrote, “What lies at the heart of Stephen’s approach is his understanding of what it means to educate professional architects while reminding us of the cultural and public dimension of the work of architecture.”

Phillips joined the faculty at Cal Poly in 2005 as an assistant professor. He received his bachelor’s degree from Yale University, his master’s in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania and his doctorate from Princeton University.

ACSA is a nonprofit association dedicated to advancing the quality of architectural education, representing more than 5,000 faculty members in the United States and Canada.

The AIAS is a student-run nonprofit organization chartered to promote excellence in architecture education, training and practice. AIAS sponsors the community service program, Freedom by Design, to foster design that impacts people’s lives positively, especially those with physical disabilities and low-income populations.

###