Associates Award

AIA Associate members who, at the submission deadline, are not licensed to practice architecture and have not passed the Architect Registration Examination are eligible for this award.

Nomination

All candidates must have a nominator. Candidates are welcome to proactively secure an eligible nominator in order to self-apply. Nominators are welcome to identify and put forward candidates. Nominators putting forward a candidate(s) that otherwise would not self-apply should coordinate closely with that individual to ensure the candidate is fully willing and able to participate in all application proceedings within the required formats and timelines. 

Any AIA member in good standing may make nominations for the Associates Award.

Nominator duties

All nominators should act to solicit, invite, and serve as a point of contact for required letter of recommendation writers. Nominators coordinating letter writers should strive to maintain the confidentiality of letters written from the candidate  

All nominators must submit a one-page letter of recommendation for the candidate. For more information on the requirements and roles of nominators, please access the online submission portal once the program is accepting materials.

Restrictions & exceptions 

Chapter 11 of the publicly posted AIA Rules of the Board (12/2025 ed.) states the following restrictions and exceptions to applicant, nominator, and letter of reference writer eligibility: 

• "National Officers, Officers-Elect, Directors, and Directors-Elect are not eligible to be nominated for any AIA Honors or Awards described in these Rules where they personally would be a recipient. ... Nothing in this section shall prevent AIA leadership from applying for Fellowship, Honorary Fellowship, or Honorary Membership."
• "AIA staff, National Officers, Officers-elect, and members of the Board, or Strategic Council are prohibited from campaigning on behalf of, nominating, sponsoring, or serving as a reference for candidates of any AIA Honors or Awards described in these Rules."
• "Jurors are prohibited from campaigning on behalf of, nominating, sponsoring, or serving as a reference for candidates of their respective programs until three (3) years after their end date of service."

If you are uncertain whether the intended candidate, nominator, and/or letter writer(s) belong to a restricted group, please email AIA Awards staff at HonorsAwards@aia.org for verification.

New in 2027! To increase ease of application, submissions started or submitted in the 2026 season are available for easy revision.

Fee: There is a non-refundable $100 fee for this program.

2027 Program waivers

The AIA Board of Directors has approved a waiver such that Strategic Council members may serve as nominators and/or letter of reference writers for candidates to the 2027 Associates Award.

Please note: This waiver does not extend to members of the board, national officers, officers-elect, or AIA staff. This waiver does not extend to other AIA awards programs. 

If you are uncertain whether the intended candidate, nominator, and/or letter writer(s) belong to a restricted group, please email AIA Awards staff at HonorsAwards@aia.org for verification.

2027 Deadline

Submissions are due by 5pm ET on Thursday, August 6, 2026. All materials must be submitted via the online application portal (i.e., cannot be accepted via email, phone, shared online drive, fax, post, etc.) by the prescribed deadline(s): deadline extension or exception requests will not be granted. Applicants and interested parties are encouraged to seek award assistance well in advance of application deadlines to minimize the risk for ineligibility and/or application noncompliance, rendering the entry removed from review.

Formatting requirements

For information on templates for required uploaded forms (e.g., Image Release Form, Application Release Form, Copyright Information File), and information on the format of portfolio documents (e.g., page size/orientation standards), or addressing letters of recommendation, please visit the AIA Awards FAQ webpage. 

Applications that do not conform to the program's formatting requirements for uploaded materials (e.g., required forms, letters of reference, and portfolio documents) are subject to automatic disqualification. AIA does not accept release forms with altered terms.

Application components

Extensive information on the materials required to submit an application (e.g., required Letters of Recommendation, Candidate Portfolio Document sections, etc.) is housed in the AIA online application portal. Please reference the information in this portal when the program is receiving materials for the 2027 season. 

New in 2027! Applicants are highly encouraged but no longer required to provide Image Copyright Release Form(s) or Applicant Material Release Forms at the time of submission.  

Providing all fully executed Image Copyright and Applicant Material Release Forms for all materials included in the submission is required to receive an award. Applicants with an award offer who cannot provide this information in full by the communicated deadlines cannot receive an AIA national award. Applicants are advised not to include any images where they cannot determine the copyright holder, and/or cannot determine the likelihood of securing a release.

Review criteria

• Candidates are evaluated based on how their contributions have exemplified leadership and demonstrated commitment to their component, community, professional organizations, and/or the design and construction industries.
• The ripple effect
  Candidates are asked to demonstrate the "ripple effect" they have had on the profession. This is shorthand for your impact beyond the day-to-day work of your practice or outside your community. The ripple effect could be demonstrated by speaking, publications, mentoring, service to the profession, geographic impact, or legacy through others.
• AIA values
  Throughout the submission, you are encouraged to highlight any aspects of the candidate’s work or life experience that may have reflected contributions or sensitivity concerning areas of special interest to AIA, its members, and the architecture profession, including but not limited to the Public Policies and Position Statements of AIA. These might include such areas as diversity, sustainability, or the mentoring of emerging professionals, to the degree that the candidate has had the opportunity to address them, or as these topics may enhance the presentation.
• AIA Framework for Design Excellence
  While submissions are not required to fit comprehensively within the framework principles, you are strongly encouraged to consider your submission materials in this context. For additional information, visit the AIA Framework for Design Excellence.

Jury

AIA Awards juries will be shared on AIA.org once available.

Contact from award applicants and/or their supporters (e.g., nominator, letter of reference writer, mentor, mentee, employer, etc.) to the real or potential jurors presiding over the review of an AIA award program is strictly prohibited. 

Evidence of current or future applicants and/or their supporters attempting or actualizing contact with an AIA award juror(s) pertaining to the evaluation of applications to specific award programs within specific award cycles can result in an official filing with the AIA Ethics Committee, suspension of membership in good standing, ineligibility of involved parties from participation in current and/or future AIA award program participation, and/or additional measures.

Recognition for this program typically includes the following elements but may be subject to change. Recipients will receive additional information about this cycle’s recognition benefits with their selection notification.

• Promotional recognition in AIA communication channels.
• Invitation for the recipient or a recipient representative to attend selected Awards event celebrations, commonly held during the annual AIA Conference on Architecture & Design®.

2026: Cole Von Feldt, Assoc. AIA, Ersa Llakmani, Assoc. AIA, Isabel Cristina Ferreira de Souza, Assoc. AIA, Alyanna Subayno, Assoc. AIA
2025: Ernest L. Banks, Assoc. AIA, Anastasia Calhoun, Assoc. AIA, Katie Cherrier, Assoc. AIA, Cyrus P. Dahmubed, Assoc. AIA, Oswaldo Rivera-Ortiz, Assoc. AIA
2024: Tania Chavez, Int'l Assoc. AIA, Katie Hitt, Assoc. AIA, Asa Santa Cruz, Assoc. AIA, Heli Shah, Assoc. AIA, Leslie Tijerina, Assoc. AIA, 
2023:  Hallie Crouch, Assoc. AIA, Jeremy Gentile, Assoc. AIA  
2022: Emily E. McGee (McGowan), Assoc. AIA, Julian Owens, Assoc. AIA, Jennifer Truman, Assoc. AIA
2021: Tiara Hughes, Assoc. AIA, Oscar Lopez, Assoc. AIA, Ricardo J. Maga Rojas, Assoc. AIA
2020: Tiffany Brown, Assoc. AIA, Eduardo Castaneda, Assoc. AIA, Stacey Crumbaker, Assoc. AIA, Kritika Dhanda, Int'l Assoc. AIA, Jenin Kotob, Assoc. AIA
2019: David Flecha, Assoc. AIA, Fuller Hanan, Assoc. AIA, Daniel Horn, Assoc. AIA, Sarah Young, Assoc. AIA
2018: Jake Banton, Assoc. AIA, Melissa R. Daniel, Assoc. AIA, Ryan Gann, Assoc. AIA, Gail Kubik, Assoc. AIA, Yiselle Santos Rivera, Assoc. AIA, Jason Takeuchi, Assoc. AIA, Timarie Trarbach, Assoc. AIA
2017: Mona Zellers, Assoc. AIA, Je'Nen Chastain, Assoc. AIA, Linsey Graff, Assoc. AIA, Michael Friebele, Assoc. AIA
2016: R. Denise Everson, Assoc. AIA, Beau Frail , Assoc. AIA, Anna Jones, Assoc. AIA, Joseph Mayo, Assoc. AIA, Jared Edgar McKnight, Assoc. AIA, Ross Miller, Assoc. AIA, Mary Anne Ocampo, Assoc. AIA
2015: Stephen Francis Gray, Assoc. AIA, Mary E. Hale, Assoc. AIA
2014: Ashley W. Clark, Assoc. AIA, Julie Ann Engh, Assoc. AIA, Ana Isabel Guerra, Assoc. AIA, Hiroshi Jacobs, Assoc. AIA
2013: G. Martin Moeller, Assoc. AIA, Jessica Sheridan, Assoc. AIA, Patrick Thomas Weber, Assoc. AIA
2012: Haley Gipe, Assoc. AIA, Aisha S. Densmore-Bey, Assoc. AIA
2011: Ernest W. Hutton, Assoc. AIA,  Tu-Anh Bui, Assoc. AIA
2010: Darris W. James, Assoc. AIA, Alison Morita, Assoc. AIA
2009: Venesa Alicea, Assoc. AIA, Douglas L. Milburn, Assoc. AIA, Adam M. Ferrari, Assoc. AIA  
2008: John Cary, Assoc. AIA, Raymond Dehn, Assoc. AIA, Jonathan Matthew Taylor, Assoc. AIA

Interested in learning about these past recipients? We’d love to hear from you—contact us.