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The School

Carnegie Mellon Architecture Awards

Recognizing excellence, supporting innovation

Firth of Forth, Scotland. By Graham Murtha (B.Arch '25), recipient of the 2022 Gindroz Prize for Summer Travel and Study in Europe for the proposal “Studies of stone architecture in Ireland, Scotland and England.”

Carnegie Mellon Architecture’s annual awards program provides over $100,000 to support travel, projects, internships and research for undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty and alumni, and recognizes student work in public interest design, design and representation, sustainability and professional promise.

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We appreciate the generous support of our donors for making these awards available and the juries for their work evaluating the applicants.

Student Awards

Carnegie Mellon Architecture offers awards for undergraduate, master's and Ph.D. students in the fall and spring semesters of each academic year.

Fall Awards


Project & Internship Support

Research Award

Travel Awards

Design Award

Spring Awards


Design & Representation Award

Professional Promise Award

Public Interest Design Awards

Sustainable Design Awards

Travel Award

Graduation Awards

Carnegie Mellon Architecture recognizes the outstanding achievement of graduating students through its annual Graduation Awards program. The recipients are announced during the annual diploma ceremonies.

  • Alpha Rho Chi Medal: Recognizes either a B.Arch or M.Arch graduate for their leadership and service and what they offer the future of the profession.
  • AIA Medal for Academic Excellence: Recognizes one graduate each from the B.Arch and M.Arch programs who has displayed "general excellence" throughout their academic career.
  • Bachelor of Arts in Architecture Award: Recognizes exceptional engagement, volunteerism, leadership, and positive citizenship within the CM–A and broader university community. This student serves as a role model to peers through their generosity, integrity, and commitment to supporting others.
  • Alumni Design Award: Awarded to a graduating B.Arch student in recognition of exceptional design and representation as demonstrated through studio work within the last two years of the program.
  • Master’s Thesis/Capstone Project Graduation Awards: Recognize exceptional design research through a thesis or capstone project completed by a graduating student from each master's program.
  • ARCC King Student Medal Program for Excellence in Architectural + Environmental Research: Awarded by the Architectural Research Centers Consortium (ARCC) to recognize a graduating Ph.D. student for innovation, integrity, and scholarship in architectural and/or environmental design research.

Faculty Awards

Carnegie Mellon Architecture offers the following awards for faculty.

Fall Awards


Research Awards

Alumni Award

Carnegie Mellon Architecture offers the following award for alumni.

Travel Award

External Awards & Scholarships

The following awards and scholarships are available from organizations outside the school.

  • AIA Pennsylvania Paula Maynes ARE Grant: This grant offsets the costs of the Architect Registration Examination (ARE) for recent architecture graduates pursuing licensure in recognition of their contributions to the profession and their communities. The grant covers the cost of three (3) divisions of the six-part ARE exam and an additional $100 stipend for study materials  The application period runs from June to August each year.
  • The John Belle Travel Fellowship: The Beyer Blinder Belle Foundation grants this annual $10,000 award to expand students' understanding of the public realm in existing cities through travel and research so that they may apply the knowledge gained to contemporary planning, architectural design, and historic preservation challenges. Eligible graduate students from participating schools must be endorsed by the department chair, dean, or equivalent head of their graduate program to apply. A maximum of four (4) applicants may be submitted per school. Students are encouraged to discuss their interest in applying with the Graduate Department of their school. Applications are due in February of each year.
  • CMAA Three Rivers Chapter Presidential Scholarship: CMAA Three Rivers, a chapter of the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA), serves the greater Pittsburgh and Western, Pa., region. The chapter offers a $1,000 merit scholarship that supports undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in a construction management or engineering program who intend to pursue a career in construction management. The annual application deadline is October 31 at 5:00pm ET.
  • John Stewardson Memorial Fellowship in Architecture: This annual competition is open to students attending an accredited architecture program in Pennsylvania. The fellowship provides a $10,000 traveling award for a young architect to study architecture abroad. The competition registration and brief are issued in January of each year.

Archived Awards

The following awards were previously available from Carnegie Mellon Architecture.