Architecture Professor Receives National Leadership Award

Kennesaw State University professor Liz Martin-Malikian has been awarded the 2018-2019 Practice and Leadership Award for demonstrating highly effective teaching, scholarship and outreach in the areas of professional practice and leadership.

The award, given by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), recognizes “excellence in architecture education as demonstrated in classroom, studio and community work, or in courses offered in various educational settings.” Martin-Malikian, an associate professor of architecture and thesis coordinator in Kennesaw State’s Department of Architecture, was selected by a panel composed of two practicing architects and two academic scholars. She will receive the award at the ACSA annual meeting in Pittsburgh on March 29.

“I am incredibly humbled to receive this level of recognition from two of the country’s premier organizations in architecture,” she said. “I take great pride in mentoring our students and helping them realize their dreams of one day becoming professional architects. There is a great sense of accomplishment in knowing that my efforts leave a positive impact.”

Martin-Malikian joined the former Southern Polytechnic State University, now KSU, in August 2006 and has since become an integral part of the architecture department’s thesis advanced core sequence. The department is unique in that it is one of only a handful nationwide programs requiring its students to pursue thesis projects while earning a professional architecture degree. In addition to her involvement on thesis projects, she teaches courses on environmental technology, materials and methods, third year studios and urban design. Prior to arriving at KSU, Martin-Malikian served as the Paul Rudolph Visiting Professor of Practice in Auburn University’s School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture.

She has an extensive background in practice spanning nearly three decades. Prior to joining academia, she worked as a project manager and senior designer for The Jerde Partnership, a global architecture firm, where her design work included Taipei, Taiwan’s multi-use development Core Pacific City. Martin-Malikian also contributed to monthly urban review and design workshops with local Taiwanese government officials and architects, resulting in a 12-year urban plan. She was the project designer for the Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas and in 2006 was the recipient of the AIA/YAF Emerging Voices Award.

“Professor Martin-Malikian is outstanding in her scholarship,” said Rich Cole, dean of KSU’s College of Architecture and Construction Management. “She brings her research and outreach into the classroom, which makes her a highly effective teacher. Her leadership and receipt of this prestigious award benefits her students, the architecture department, the college and the greater University, and we are all very proud of her.”

Martin-Malikian holds a master’s degree in architecture from the Southern California Institute of Architecture and a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Tulane University.

Wrtitten by Travis Highfield, Photos by David Caselli, Original Story