Dirk Denison (B.ARCH. ‘83, M.B.A. ‘85), FAIA

Dirk Denison is founding principal of Dirk Denison Architects, which was established in 1990. His work is recognized internationally through publications and awards. He is a fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

At Illinois Institute of Technology, Denison has been a professor at the College of Architecture for over 30 years—teaching at every level of the curriculum and creating special experiences for students, like his S. R. Crown Hall collaboration with Hubbard Street Dance. He has served as College of Architecture’s director of graduate and undergraduate programs, chair of the college curriculum committee, and director of the master’s thesis program. He currently serves as director of Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize (MCHAP).

Denison’s commitment to preserve Mies van der Rohe’s legacy at Illinois Tech is is highly evident in Mies’ buildings he has rehabilitated on campus, which includes S.R. Crown Hall, and most recently, Cunningham Hall and George J. Kacek Hall (Carman Hall is currently under construction). Denison also was campus architect for eleven years.

In addition to serving on the Mies van der Rohe Society Board, Denison is vastly involved with the Art Institute of Chicago and is currently board chair for the Society for Contemporary Art, former president of the Architecture & Design Society, and former board member for the Committee on Modern and Contemporary Art. Denison is currently on the board of directors for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, City of Chicago Park District Public Art Committee; and member of the National Advisory Council for the Cranbrook Academy of Art.