Donna Dunay honored with emerita status
Donna Dunay, professor of architecture in the College of Architecture, Arts, and Design at Virginia Tech, has been conferred the title of professor emerita by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.
The emerita title may be conferred on retired faculty members who are specially recommended to the board by Virginia Tech President Tim Sands in recognition of exemplary service to the university. Nominated individuals who are approved by the board receive a copy of the resolution and a certificate of appreciation.
A member of the Virginia Tech community for more than 48 years, Dunay taught generations of architects to work collaboratively and inclusively across disciplines and to think critically while maintaining a spirit of curiosity and experimentation. Her scholarship emphasized civic responsibility in the education of the architect while strengthening relationships between education and practice.
Dunay wrote the influential book, “Town Architecture: Understanding a Virginia Town,” a text that has inspired architects, planners, and public officials.
She has worked extensively at the national and state levels with the American Institute of Architects (AIA), including service on the National AIA Strategic Council, the Equity and Future of Architecture Committee, the National AIA Convention Educational Committee, and the Virginia Society of the AIA Honors Committee. She held leadership positions in other organizations, including chair of the International Archive of Women in Architecture (IAWA) Center, member of multiple international and national teams of the National Architectural Accrediting Board — chairing four, and the International Congress of Women Architects.
Through her work in the IAWA, Dunay brought international visibility to the organization and Virginia Tech, lecturing widely, mounting exhibitions internationally, and giving voice and record to countless overlooked, yet significant, architects. She co-founded inside Architecture + Design Summer Course through which hundreds of high school students have found their way to Virginia Tech’s architecture program over the past 20 years.
Dunay is a fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a distinguished professor of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, was the G.T. Ward Endowed Professor of Architecture, and is one of only four women to be recognized with the AIA Virginia William C. Noland Medal, the highest award for architects in Virginia.
Dunay received her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in architecture from Virginia Tech.
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