The chair of the Department of Architecture in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning (AAP) will bear the name of one of the college’s renowned alumni: Richard Meier, B.Arch. ’56.

The Richard Meier Chair of the Department of Architecture was announced by the college and by Richard Meier & Partners Architects, Meier’s New York City- and Los Angeles-based practice for 55 years.

Meier honors his training at Cornell with the endowed position. Andrea Simitch, B.Arch. ’79, associate professor and chair of architecture, will be first to hold the title.

Kent Kleinman, the Gale and Ira Drukier Dean of AAP, said: “Architecture at Cornell is widely recognized as the preeminent program of its kind, and Richard’s renown spans every corner of the globe and has no equal. The Richard Meier Chair of the Department of Architecture at Cornell University is a match of perfection. Indeed, it seems that the department chair position, which has been unnamed since the founding of the program almost 150 years ago, has waited for just such a pairing.”

Meier, whose signature architectural style is known as “Meier White,” designed Weill Hall, the life sciences technology building that opened on campus in 2008. He is the only Cornellian to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize, considered the field’s highest honor.

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