Awards & Honors

Associate Professor June Williamson has recently been elected to two positions and honored by the Architecture Alumni Group.

At-Large Director, ACSA

In 2018, Williamson was elected At-Large Director of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), which provides a forum for ideas in architectural thought, education, and research. The association includes more than 500 member schools and over 5,000 faculty across North America and has 11 elected positions from all the architecture schools in North America along with one Public Director and one student from AIAS. One of her strategic missions for her three-year term on the ACSA Board is to promote inclusion and  diversity on all levels — a work environment that is essential to Williamson, reflecting almost half the student body of Spitzer with a minority background.

In an interview with M Arch ’19 student Avi Nagel, she spoke about her vision for the ACSA: “One objective is to increase the impact of the organization for the member schools and their faculty. Another is to broaden the membership of the ACSA and to think more about connections to schools of architecture around the world. The ACSA is looking to forge more international connections by sending North American students to study abroad and bringing international students here. One of the things that attracted me to run for the position was that the board was recently changed from a regional structure to one that expands the geographic impact of the elected positions.” See the Spitzer School Annual Report for the full interview (p. 28).

Architecture Department Chair, CCNY

In May 2019, Williamson was elected by Architecture Department faculty to a three-year term as Chair starting in July. The department includes CCNY’s architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design programs. In a statement about the election, Williamson commented, “I’m honored to be selected as your next Chair. I’ve have been full time on the faculty since 2008, but first joined CCNY in 2004 as a student in the MUP in Urban Design Program. It was a tremendous time, even for a licensed architect, new mom, new to NYC, with six years of teaching under my belt already, and a book in contract. The book, Retrofitting Suburbia, was a great success, garnering awards and selling far beyond the publisher’s expectations. It’s been featured in Time magazine and the New York Times, on the CBS Evening News, been translated into Mandarin, and led to organizing design competitions. I teach a popular seminar here on the topic and this year I’m advising a pair of Sustainability Capstone students whose project is on equitable aging-in-community in two challenged metro New York State suburbs, Wyandanch and North Syracuse. My co-author and I are completing the manuscript of a sequel, and I’m ready to devote myself to exciting, and tough, new challenges in collaboration with an energetic new Dean.”

Architecture Alumni Group 2019 Faculty Service Award

Later in May, Williamson was honored by the Architecture Alumni Group with the Faculty Service Award, presented at the Alumni Spring Event. While accepting the award, Williamson spoke about the timing of this honor with respect to the recently elected positions: “Both new roles are super challenging, but are also so stimulating. They require me to spread my wings, exercise dormant muscles, acquire new skills, spend more time with all of you! I’m excited to give back in ways that will benefit our students — our greatest resource for the future of the design professions, and our reason for being here!”