The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) is pleased to announce José L.S. Gámez as the organization’s 2025-26 president. Gámez is the Dean of the College of Arts + Architecture at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Gámez has served the UNC Charlotte community for over 23 years—his previous roles include Interim Dean of UNC Charlotte’s College of Arts + Architecture, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Programs, Provost Faculty Fellow, and Research Fellow for the university’s Institute for Social Capital and Urban Institute.
Before joining UNC Charlotte, Gámez taught at Portland State University and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He received his Bachelor of Environmental Design from Texas A&M University, his Master of Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley, and his Ph.D. in Architecture and Urban Design from the University of California, Los Angeles.
“As an architectural educator, I have worked to address questions of culture and spatial practice through my teaching, community-engaged research, and service for over two decades,” said Gámez. His pursuits involve efforts to develop collaborative practices that build cultural competencies both in the classroom and beyond campus through mutually beneficial partnerships.
Gámez’s work in public scholarship and action-based research earned him the 2015 Provost’s Award for Community Engagement. In 2006, he was inducted into the Hispanic Scholarship Fund Alumni Hall of Fame.
Prior to his appointment as ACSA President, Gámez supported the association in various capacities. Gámez previously worked with the ACSA Board of Directors as an At-Large Director during the 2017-2020 term. Throughout the past decade, he has served on the juries for the Collaborative Practice, New Faculty Teaching, and Practice & Leadership Architectural Education Awards.
As a champion for inclusive visions of design education, Gámez looks forward to continuing ACSA’s commitment to fostering equitable learning cultures throughout its membership. “I am excited for the opportunity to re-engage with ACSA’s national leadership and to help reinforce the idea that architecture can be a form of civic and cultural leadership,” he shared.
In his new role as president, José Gámez has identified the following agenda items as priorities for the organization in alignment with ACSA’s Strategic Plan:
- The continued focus on ACSA’s position as the leading voice for architectural education (across the continuum of architectural education, from associate’s degrees to post-professional degrees, across the US, Canada, and beyond);
- An aim to strengthen partnerships in support of our member programs;
- And a focus on core initiatives that consistently provide support to our membership (for example, ACSA’s peer-reviewed conferences, journals, student competitions, and awards).
“These items are of particular importance given the dynamic climate that higher education and the field of architecture currently face,” he continued. “ACSA will continue to build towards a shared vision of collaborative change, addressing forces that affect architecture programs and reaffirming the relevance of architecture, design, and education to the communities that we serve.”
“With these things in mind, ACSA is planning upcoming conferences that will create focused opportunities for dialogue. Our August board meeting will overlap with the Summer Conference, which will be held in Charlotte (August 7-8, 2025) and will focus on navigating the complex landscapes ahead. The Intersections Research Conference will be hosted by Wentworth, School of Architecture & Design in Boston (September 25-27, 2025) with a focus on transformations in technology and AI. The Administrator Conference, which will be hosted by the University of Arkansas, Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design (November 6-8, 2025), will engage architecture and design as critical agents. Our 114th Annual Meeting will be held in Chicago (March 26-28, 2026) with the Illinois Institute of Technology and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign serving as hosts who challenge us to consider Convergence and Divergence in design futures. Lastly, ACSA and the Association of Architecture Schools of Australasia (AASA) are planning the 2026 International Conference to be held in Brisbane, Australia (July 8-11, 2026) under the theme of Planetary Practice: Architecture of a Shared Global Future.”
Gámez’s presidency will strengthen the association’s mission and support the strategic priorities of ACSA’s academic community. His dedication to fairness, mutual respect, collaboration, and inclusive practice will shape the association’s work for the coming year.
“I remain humbled by the opportunity to work with our membership and collaboratively lead the ACSA forward,” said Gámez. “Our shared commitment to pedagogical approaches and partnerships will help us deliver relevant content and expand the impacts of architectural education within university contexts and beyond.”
