Teresa Rosano named winner of the ACSA Distinguished Professor Award

The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) has named Teresa Rosano, assistant professor of practice, the winner of the Distinguished Professor Award. 

This prestigious award is part of the 2025 Architectural Education Awards, which honor architectural educators for exemplary work in areas such as building design, community collaboration, scholarship, and service. 

“I’m deeply honored to receive this award, particularly with so many outstanding educators in the running,” Rosano said. “It's exciting to be the first to represent CAPLA and the University of Arizona.” 

The ACSA describes the Distinguished Professor Award as recognizing “individuals that have had a positive, stimulating, and nurturing influence upon students."

“What I love most, like any teacher, are the 'A-ha moments'—when a student has a breakthrough and a new understanding emerges,” she said. “I also love seeing the moment a student gets excited about their idea, when discovery sparks their curiosity and propels them forward.” 

Jordan West, a fifth-year B.Arch student, has served as a teaching assistant for Rosano three times, an experience that has given her a deeper appreciation of Rosano’s teaching philosophy. 

“Teresa teaches with enthusiasm, making complex subjects engaging and fostering an inclusive environment where discussions and questions are welcomed,” West said. “Her unwavering commitment to enhancing the rigor of a challenging discipline while nurturing a supporting learning environment is truly commendable.” 

Rosano has received multiple accolades for her teaching. In 2024, she was honored with the Gerald J. Swanson Prize for Teaching Excellence from the University of Arizona. In 2023, she was named AIA Arizona Educator of the Year and received the Margaret M. Briehl and Dennis T. Ray Five Star Faculty Award.

Mary Hardin, distinguished professor emerita, has known Rosano for more than twenty years and recalls her enrollment in the U of A Graduate Certificate program for College Teaching in 2018. Hardin noted that after completing the program, Rosano “grew by quantum leaps because of the program’s focus on the science behind learning.” 

“She emerged as a teacher to all of us, assisting with the struggles inherent in the pivot to online instruction and the larger class sizes that resulted from budget challenges,” Hardin said. 

Rosano earned her B.Arch from CAPLA in 1994 and co-founded Ibarra Rosano Design Architects in 1999. The firm has gained national recognition as one of Arizona’s top design firms for its modern desert architecture. 

“Teresa’s teaching approach is personal,” said Ryan Smith, director of the School of Architecture. “She engages students one-on-one and in group settings with energy and enthusiasm, driven by her passion for architecture and the Sonoran Desert region.”