The American Institute of Architects announced today that former Philadelphia deputy mayor and chairman of the City Planning Commission, Alan Greenberger, FAIA, has been selected to receive the 2017 Thomas Jefferson Award which recognizes “excellence in architectural advocacy and achievement.”
Previously a principal at MGA Partners in Philadelphia, Greenberger focused his public interest work from 2009-2015 on updating “antiquated and convoluted zoning codes” by creating the comprehensive Philadelphia2035 city plan. He is also credited with completing and approving plans for redevelopment of all 37 miles of the Philadelphia waterfront.
Greenberger is now a distinguished teaching professor, Lind Fellow, and the department head of the newly renamed department of architecture, design, and urbanism at Drexel University. Greenberger is also the chairman of the Philadelphia Art Commission.
The jury for the 2017 Thomas Jefferson Award included: chair Illya Azaroff, AIA, of +LAB architects in New York; Hans Butzer, AIA, of Oaklahoma City-based Butzer Architects and Urbanism; Damian Farrell, FAIA, of Damian Farrell Design Group in Ann Arbor, Mich.; Jared Edgar Mcknight, Assoc. AIA, of WRT Design in Philadelphia and San Francisco; Lynn M. Perkins, AIA, of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Greenberger will be honored at the 2017 AIA Conference on Architecture in Orlando, Fla.
Note: Due to new information from the AIA, this article has been updated since first publication. Alan Greenberger is currently the head of the department of architecture, design, and urbanism, at Drexel University.
