Bio

Dr. Traci Rose Rider is an Associate Professor of Architecture, Director of Graduate Programs, Doctor of Design faculty, and PhD Faculty at North Carolina State University’s College of Design. Dr. Rider’s research spans the relationship between design culture and sustainability, inclusive design, and the built environment’s impact on human health and wellbeing. Her work explores factors shaping environmental attitudes among designers, including education, learned associations, and informal influences, and she has worked to (re)launch The Alliance for Inclusive Design Practice and Research at NC State in 2026, previously known as the Center for Universal Design.

Dr. Rider teaches courses focusing on sustainability and health for the School of Architecture, covering topics such as existing building operations and maintenance and holistic considerations for both health and sustainability. Her past funded research projects include methods for introducing building science and health topics to middle school students in North Carolina through STEM exercises, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) grant examining how private multifamily developers conceptualize and implement health and wellness strategies, and a NIST-funded collaboration with the College of Natural Resources to develop educational modules on life-cycle evaluation of green buildings and sustainable materials. Dr. Rider also participated in Cohort 4 of the RWJF’s Interdisciplinary Research Leaders program, as part of Team Raleigh, to examine how a hybrid school-and-community center model can support the mental, emotional, and physical health of students, staff, families, and surrounding communities. This work reflects her sustained commitment to health equity and the role of the built environment in fostering community wellbeing.

Her professional experience over the past twenty-plus years has included work at international design firms, green-building nonprofits, university extension, and sustainability consulting. She holds LEED AP and WELL AP credentials and serves as Editor-in-Chief of ENQ journal and as a member of the Architectural Research Centers Consortium (ARCC) Board. She was given the New Researcher Award by the Architectural Research Centers Consortium (ARCC) in 2015–2016, the 2020 Gail Lindsey Sustainability Award from AIA-NC, and is an NC State University Faculty Scholar. She currently serves on the ACSA Research and Scholarship Committee.

Dr. Rider has presented and published widely in venues including ARCC, ACSA, and the National Outreach Scholarship Conference. She has been featured in Dwell magazine, received the prestigious individual U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Leadership Award in Education for 2005, and was included among “The Re-Inventors” in Vanity Fair’s Green Issue in May 2006, alongside visionaries such as William McDonough, Paul Hawken, and Sim van der Ryn. She has authored three books, two with W.W. Norton and the most recent with Routledge, Building for Well-Being (2021). She frequently presents at academic and professional conferences on green design, sustainability, integrated design, and community engagement.

Rider received her professional Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Cincinnati and her Master’s Degree in Human-Environment Relations with a focus on Environmental Sociology from Cornell University. Her doctorate was granted from the College of Design at North Carolina State University, focusing on the integration of sustainability within formal design education.

 

Additional

Dr. Rider’s research interest involves design culture and the influence of sustainability; human-environment relations, including allowances and affordances; impacts of the built environment on health and wellbeing; designed spaces for environmental education; and design for special populations including children and the elderly.

Website: https://traciroserider.wordpress.ncsu.edu/

ResearchGate

Real Estate Action in Community Health (REACH) project website

NIST project website

Area(s) of Expertise

Design culture and the influence of sustainability, human-environment relations, and universal design