Michael Harwood, associate vice president for Campus Planning and Facilities Management at the UO, was recently named to the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows for his innovative design work.

The honor is awarded to members who have made significant contributions to the profession of architecture and serves as the highest professional honor granted by the AIA. Of the group’s 90,000 members, only 3 percent achieve membership to the College of Fellows.

Harwood joined the UO last summer after more than 20 years as an architectural leader and planner at North Carolina State University. He is responsible for the nontraditional design of NCSU’s Centennial Campus, a research campus that serves as a 21st-century model for “uniting education, research and private entities for technological innovation.”

Centennial caught the attention of more than 30 universities across the country looking to incorporate a similar campus design for their institutions. The project, combined with two decades of experience in planning campuses, earned Harwood the prestigious induction into the AIA College of Fellows.

“Long before I knew about this job at University of Oregon we had been emulating some of the planning concepts (at NCSU) that the UO has been doing for years,” Harwood said.

While Harwood was designing the Centennial Campus he read “A Pattern Language,” one of several books published by UO architectural planner Christopher Alexander. The book describes the approach to shared governance adopted by the UO and was the foundation for its Campus Plan. The concept of a hearth, described in Alexander’s books, was influential in shaping the master plan at NCSU.

“From a planning perspective, NC State has learned a lot from the UO over the years,” Harwood said.

Harwood will be honored at an investiture ceremony at the AIA Conference on Architecture 2017 in Orlando, Florida, in April. He is excited to have his family and colleagues there to witness the event.

—By Talia Smith, Finance and Administration