Tom Barrie Wins University’s Highest Honor
Professor of Architecture Thomas Barrie is a recipient of the university’s highest honor for faculty, the Alexander Quarles Holladay Medal for Excellence. The award is bestowed by the NC State Board of Trustees and recognizes members of the faculty whose careers have demonstrated outstanding achievement and sustained impact in research, teaching or extension and engagement.
He will be honored at the Celebration of Faculty Excellence on April 30 and will be recognized during the spring commencement ceremony.
“The College of Design is proud to see Professor Barrie recognized with this momentous honor,” says Mark Hoversten, dean of the College of Design. “In his 20+ years on the faculty, Tom has made a positive impact on not only generations of students, but also advocated fiercely for more affordable and equitable housing throughout Raleigh and the state.”
Barrie is committed to broadening the scope and audience of architecture through research, extension and community-based design studios in housing and urban design. He is the director of the Affordable Housing + Sustainable Communities initiative, whose mission is to provide educational resources for government, non-profit groups, community leaders, and the general public with innovative and applicable solutions to housing and urban challenges faced in North Carolina.
His scholarship centers around the interrelationship of a culture’s architecture and its cultural/religious beliefs. Professor Barrie’s scholarship on the symbolism, ritual use, and cultural significance of architecture has brought him to sacred places around the world, and he has published and lectured extensively on this subject area. He has five major publications, including The Architecture of the World’s Major Religions, An Essay on Themes, Differences, and Similarities (Brill 2020), House and Home: Cultural Contexts, Ontological Roles (Routledge, 2017), Architecture, Culture, and Spirituality (Barrie, Bermudez, Tabb, eds., Routledge, 2015), The Sacred In-Between: The Mediating Roles of Architecture (Routledge, 2010) and Spiritual Path, Sacred Place: Myth Ritual and Meaning in Architecture (Shambhala, 1996).
This is not the first time that Barrie has been recognized for his teaching and scholarship. In 2022, Barrie was the first to receive the Educator of the Year award from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) North Carolina Chapter.
He has received the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) Distinguished Professor Award and Creative Achievement Award and the ACSA/AIA Students New Teaching Award. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a member of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture College of Distinguished Professors, and a member of the NC State Academy of Outstanding Faculty in Extension and Engagement.
Professor Barrie’s built works and projects have been recognized by a number of design awards including two from the AIA Detroit Chapter. Before joining NC State, Barrie was Professor of Architecture at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Michigan where he founded The Detroit Studio. He has also taught at the University of Manchester (UK), Manchester Metropolitan University (UK) and Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island. He has been a visiting faculty member at the University of Oregon, University of Illinois Chicago, and the Catholic University of America.
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