At their annual Leadership Awards Gala on March 7th, the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation (BWAF) honored Principal Jill Lerner with its distinguished Keystone Award. Introduced by KPF President Jamie von Klemperer, Lerner accepted the Award alongside six other women professionals who received honors throughout the night.
The honorees represent women leadership in architecture, engineering, environmental consulting, education, and media, including the likes of Iris Weinshall, COO of the New York Public Library, and Eugenie Havemeyer, President of Metropolis Magazine.
Lerner acts as Managing Principal for University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business II and Brooklyn’s Red Hook Houses—a resiliency and renewal collaboration between KPF and the New York City Housing Authority in response to Superstorm Sandy. With both FAIA and NCARB certifications, she has been recognized by many organizations for her contributions to the profession, including honors at the New York Building Congress 96th Anniversary Leadership Awards Luncheon.
After 30 years of running her own architecture firm, famed architect Beverly Willis was shocked to discover the lack of women represented in architecture’s history books. In 2002, she founded BWAF with the goal of advancing the knowledge and recognition of women’s contributions to the building industry by commissioning and curating research pertaining to women within all fields of practice. The Awards recognize outstanding women for their contributions to their respective disciplines within architecture and design.