Spitzer Stars
J. Max Bond Jr.
Dean and Professor (1985-1992)
Biography :
J. Max Bond Jr. (1935-2009), one of the most influential Black architects in the United States, was honored with the Whitney M. Young Jr. Award in 1987 for his commitment to social justice, racial equality, and advocacy for affordable housing.
Highlights from Bond’s illustrious career include being director of the Architects’ Renewal Committee in Harlem, co-founder of Bond Ryder and Associates with Donald Ryder, partner at Davis Brody Bond, chair of the architecture division of the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University, and a member of the New York City Planning Commission.
Praised in 2009 as the “voice of conscience within his profession on issues of racial and economic justice,” Bond continues to inspire the Spitzer community. The J. Max Bond Center for Urban Futures at the Spitzer School of Architecture is named for him.
“Architecture inevitably involves all the larger issues of society.”
Career Highlights :
- Bolgatanga Regional Library, Ghana
- Martin Luther King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Atlanta, Georgia
- Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York City
- Addition to the Harvard Club of New York City
- Harlem Children’s Zone Headquarters, New York City
- Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Birmingham, Alabama
- Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, DC
- 9/11 Memorial Museum, New York City