The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has elevated John Folan, professor and head of the Department of Architecture in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the U of A, to its College of Fellows for 2025. This prestigious Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) designation is the highest honor the AIA bestows upon its members.

Folan is a member of the AIA Arkansas chapter. Over the last several years, AIA Arkansas — together with other state chapters across the Southeast — have mounted a concerted effort to increase their Fellowship numbers; Michael Buono, FAIA, has been instrumental in this effort.

The FAIA distinction recognizes architects who have made exceptional contributions to the field of architecture and society. Since its founding in 1952, only 3% of AIA members have achieved this honor. The AIA College of Fellows works to promote excellence in the profession, mentor emerging architects and serve the public through meaningful design and scholarship.

New Fellows were honored at an investiture ceremony on June 5 during the AIA Conference on Architecture & Design (AIA25) in Boston.

Folan was elected under Object 6, which aims to advance the science and art of planning and building by advancing the standards of architectural education and training.

"Fellowship in this object is granted to architects who have made notable contributions through their work in education, research or literature," according to a statement on the AIA website. "Work in education may be teaching, research, administration or writing and should have a lasting impact, be widely recognized and provide inspiration to others in the field and the profession. Research areas may include building codes and standards, specifications, new material applications or inventions."

Folan's elevation to Fellow reflects these very standards, recognizing his career-long dedication to design excellence, community engagement, implementation of public interest work and applied architectural education experiences. Folan's work exemplifies the impact the AIA seeks to honor. The work executed through the university-affiliated non-profit organizations he has developed and led simultaneously advances expectations of the profession, benefits the communities where projects are realized and empowers future generations to contribute meaningfully through shared effort.

"I've been extremely fortunate. This honor is not mine alone, but a reflection of the many collaborative relationships I've been privileged to cultivate throughout my career — among community residents, project stakeholders, municipalities and nongovernmental organizations. Most importantly, it speaks to the enduring optimism of students who engage in addressing pressing social challenges, and to the essential support of academic institutions that have made, and make, the work possible," Folan said. "Architecture is never a solitary act; it is always a collective endeavor. The body of work and efforts this honor acknowledges is the product of shared commitments to catalyze meaningful change that benefits a broader public."

Elevation to the AIA College of Fellows requires a nomination by either an AIA chapter or a group of five to 10 current Fellows. Folan was nominated by a full slate of 10 AIA Fellows, supported by a sponsorship letter from William Bates, FAIA, former national president of the AIA, and seven letters of support from internationally recognized architects and professionals from around the world.

"Folan's career-long focus on sustainable housing and socio-economic equity have been indefatigable, representing the very best of our profession through many channels," Bates said in his sponsor letter. "His impressive work continues to reframe the educational values and priorities of our profession. It deeply examines the empowerment that compassionate design offers to society and elevates the importance of diverse professional designers serving underprivileged communities."

As part of the rigorous application process, Folan was required to submit a 40-page portfolio outlining his professional impact, including a 35-word statement summarizing his impact. The statement emphasized his commitment to empowering future generations to drive change through collaborative design that values partnerships of difference, collective intelligence and resourcefulness.

"John epitomizes the definition of an innovative and inspirational architect helping to take architectural education beyond the confines of the studio into places of great need," Bates said. "He is a stalwart of sustainability and design equity, charting a new path for the next generation architects."

Marlon Blackwell, FAIA, the recipient of the 2020 AIA Gold Medal, also wrote a letter of support for Folan. Blackwell is a Distinguished Professor of architecture and the E. Fay Jones Chair in Architecture in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the U of A, where he has taught since 1992.

"John is a true liaison between the academy and the profession, giving students the rare opportunity to work at full scale, to learn execution in material realities and to address issues that are technical, social, environmental and more," said Blackwell, whose Fayetteville-based professional practice is Marlon Blackwell Architects.

"To my mind, John is the consummate architectural educator: passionate and compassionate in engagement with his students, energetic and deliberate in his methods of instruction, speculative and substantial in his emphases and outlooks," Peter MacKeith, dean of the Fay Jones School, wrote in his letter of support for Folan. "Architecture education for John is never formulaic, never cynical, never mechanical; it is, rather, always innovative, always optimistic, always lyrical, always material and constructed."

Folan's elevation to Fellow provides the opportunity to highlight several key projects and programs from throughout his career. Folan said his most significant contributions are the organizations he has founded and directs.

"The built work that has emerged from these organizations not only reflects their success but also affirms their enduring impact on the social and spatial fabric of the communities they serve," Folan said.

Among these is the Urban Design Build Studio (UDBS), which gives students the opportunity to address pressing social challenges through hands-on public interest design work. The studio was created in 2008 when Folan taught at Carnegie Mellon University School of Architecture in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is now associated with the Fay Jones School at the U of A. Recognitions for UDBS include 34 AIA Honor Awards, the 2018 AIA Impact Practice of the Year, four SEED Prizes, 12 ACSA Collaborative Practice Awards, three ACSA Design Build Awards, three AIA/ACSA Housing Design Education Awards, two ACSA Timber Education Prizes, the ACSA Practice and Leadership Award and the NOMA Prize for Social Justice and Equity in Design, which is a collaborative effort between NOMA, the NAACP and the SEED Network.

Another is PROJECT RE_, an autonomous nonprofit organization that Folan describes as the most significant professional contribution he has made in service to society. PROJECT RE_ expands the capacity of university-affiliated UDBS design-build work through job skill training programming and a triple track entrepreneurship model that affords reinvestment of project-based revenues in the community through cooperative ownership. Since 2012, Folan has raised more than $15 million for the UDBS and PROJECT RE_ as a principal investigator to support public interest design and job skill training programs. More than 2,000 students have been involved in the realization of projects through these organizations — working shoulder to shoulder with more than 700 apprentices in training, 157 community partners and 46 neighborhoods.

Folan now joins a distinguished list of architects and design educators in Arkansas who have received the FAIA designation through the years, including faculty and alumni such as Marlon Blackwell, Michael Buono, Fay Jones and John G. Williams, as well as Reese Rowland, John Mott and Ralph Mott.

In addition to being a major personal achievement, Folan's elevation to AIA Fellow is also an indication of the growing national recognition of the work being done at the Fay Jones School. His contributions in the classroom, studio and communities serve as reminders that architecture is not only about buildings but about building better communities together.

Fellows are selected by a 10-member jury of Fellows. This year's jury included Chair Carl D'Silva, FAIA, Perkins&Will; Roderick Ashley, FAIA, Roderick Ashley Architect; Margaret Carney, FAIA, Cornell University; Sanford Garner, FAIA, RGCollaborative; Julie Hiromoto, FAIA, HKS; John Horky, FAIA, Ripples, by design; Mary Ann Lazarus, FAIA, Cameron MacAllister; Marilys Nepomechie, FAIA, Florida International University; Anne Schopf, FAIA, Mahlum; and Jose Javier Toro, FAIA, Toro Arquitectos.