Jill N. Lerner FAIA

Principal

Jill has led the development of KPF’s institutional practice, applying a deep understanding of evolving pedagogies to deliver award-winning buildings and campuses for education, research, and life sciences for many of the world’s top universities. The former president of AIA’s New York Chapter, Jill is intently focused on civic issues in New York city where she is an active leader on public projects and a champion of sustainable architectural practice and policy.

Innovative Solutions to Evolving Needs

Jill’s extensive portfolio of research and institutional projects is distinguished by innovation in project direction, planning, and programming. Her expertise in guiding large teams through a collaborative design process results in best-in-class buildings with flexibility to adapt to evolving modes of teaching, learning, and research. Her work for the Ann McIlrath Drake Executive Center at the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management merges hospitality and educational functions to suit executive learners, while the CUNY Advanced Science Research Centers in New York City supports varied and changing research initiatives with modular utility infrastructure. Her projects for Mount Sinai Hospital and Columbia University point the way toward more sustainable life science and healthcare buildings through high-performance retrofits and all-electric operations.

Ann McIlrath Drake Executive Center at Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management

Evanston, IL, USA

Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Hospital

New York, NY, USA

The Vagelos Innovation Laboratories at Columbia University

New York, NY, USA

Building Consensus Through Inclusive Dialogue

Jill is committed to creating a sense of ownership, familiarity, and belonging with each project by addressing the needs of all stakeholders. Having led dozens of academic projects for institutions including the University of Michigan, New York University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou), Jill fosters collaborative working relationships to facilitate decision making and build consensus. Leveraging this skill, she developed design responses that successfully mediate between community interests, city, state, and federal agencies as well as other stakeholders for recent projects at the Port Authority Bus Terminal and Penn Station. An advocate for the equitable improvement of New York City’s built environment, Jill has led FEMA-funded climate resiliency work for the NYCHA Red Hook Houses in Brooklyn and served on the city’s Local Law 97 Climate Advisory Board.

The Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan

Ann Arbor, MI, USA

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou)

Guangzhou, China

NYCHA Red Hook Houses

Brooklyn, NY, USA

Industry Leadership

Jill is a Board Member of Urban Green, the Regional Plan Association, and the New York Building Congress; she is Co-Chair of the board of the Municipal Art Society. An active alumna of Cornell University, Jill was the only architect on its Board of Trustees (2004–2009), is past Chair of the University’s College of Architecture, Art and Planning Alumni Advisory Council. She has taught Professional Practice to architecture students in Cornell’s New York City program and served on numerous design juries. Jill is a registered architect in several states.