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BRISTOL, R.I. – Roger Williams University Professor of Architecture Julian Bonder has been honored as a 2025  (ACSA) Distinguished Professor, recognizing his profound impact on architectural education, research, and practice.

With more than two decades of teaching experience at 91��������, Bonder is known for his work at the intersection of memory, architecture, public space, and human rights. His teaching and research explore the profound ways in which architecture reflects and shapes history, culture, and society. His courses, including the “Unearthing Traces and Legacies” design studios, along with his seminars on Public Space, challenge students to consider architecture’s role in addressing historical injustices, fostering collective memory, and to creatively work as designers towards creating a better world.

“Professor Bonder’s recognition as a 2025 ACSA Distinguished Professor is a well-earned tribute to his extraordinary contributions to architectural education and practice,” said Stephen White, Dean of the Cummings School of Architecture. “Through his teaching, research, and design work, he has profoundly influenced generations of students, challenging them to think critically about architecture’s role in shaping society. This national distinction highlights his exceptional scholarship and the depth of his impact in shaping the leaders of the architecture field.”

Beyond the classroom, Bonder is a practicing architect whose work addresses memory, trauma, and justice. As principal of Julian Bonder & Associates and a partner at Wodiczko + Bonder, he has designed significant memorials and cultural spaces around the world. His work has been widely published and exhibited and is the recipient of numerous awards. His projects and proposals include the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University, the Newport Middle Passage Memorial, and the Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery in Nantes, France together with Wodiczko. The latter, a groundbreaking public space in Europe in its scale and significance, has drawn more than 2 million visitors to date. Bonder is also the recipient of a Special Mention at the biannual European Prize for Urban Public Space, and was shortlisted for the prestigious Mies van der Rohe Award.

“Teaching is ethics in action, and I consider it inextricably linked to my design practice, research, and public service,” said Bonder, who elaborated on . “My teaching at Roger Williams University has been a home to my academic career and an anchor to my multiple practices and endeavors around the world. I am deeply grateful to work with committed students, wonderful colleagues, and engaged communities, exploring how architecture intersects with history, memory, and justice. I am humbled and elated to have received this recognition, which reaffirms the importance of fostering an understanding of Architecture, and its teaching, as a life-affirming and creative force for good inextricably linked to our social, political, and cultural existence.”

Bonder received several awards from the ACSA including Faculty Design Awards for his Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies (2000) and the Memorial in Nantes (2007), a 2021 Faculty Design Honorable Mention for their entry entitled “The Ripple Effects” in the 2019 competition for a memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King at the Boston Common, and a 2015 Creative Achievement Award for his “Unearthing Traces and Legacies” design studios at 91��������.

Bonder’s work extends into global conversations on memory and justice. He is actively involved in initiatives such as the European Observatory on Memories, the Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocides and Mass Atrocities’ International Advisory Board, and Radcliffe’s Universities and Slavery project. His scholarship and advocacy reinforce his belief that architecture is not only a creative discipline but also a vital force for social change.

With this ACSA Distinguished Professor Award, Bonder’s contributions to architectural education, practice, and discourse are further recognized, underscoring his profound influence on students, the profession, and society at large.

Read Bonder’s approach to teaching, practice, research and scholarship, and see some of his work in his portfolio, “.” at ACSA website.