News

The SOM Foundation is pleased to announce the winner of the 2025 European Research Prize. A team from the Politecnico di Milano will receive a €20,000 prize to conduct original research that contributes to this year’s topic, “Exploring the Potential of Mobility Corridors.” The European Research Prize was created in 2021 to cultivate new ideas and meaningful research that addresses the critical issues of our time.

It is with deep sadness that we announce that Robert L. Wesley has passed away at the age of 88. An architect who joined SOM in 1964 and became the firm’s first Black partner in 1984, Wesley made a lasting impact through both his built work and many years of committed civic leadership. In 2020 the SOM Foundation created the Robert L. Wesley Award to honor him and to support BIPOC undergraduate students enrolled in architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture, urban design, and engineering programs in the United States.

The SOM Foundation is pleased to announce the winners of the 2025 Research Prize. Two teams—one from the University of Texas at Austin and one from the University of Virginia—have been awarded the 2025 Research Prize, and will each receive $30,000 to conduct original research that contributes to this year’s topic, “Exploring the Potential of Mobility Corridors.” The Research Prize was created in 2018 to cultivate new ideas and meaningful research that addresses the critical issues of our time.

The University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning and the SOM Foundation form new scholarship to support high school students and to honor Gordon Bunshaft.

The SOM Foundation is saddened by the passing of Robert A. M. Stern, founding partner of RAMSA (Robert A.M. Stern Architects), and Frank O. Gehry, founding partner of Gehry Partners, LLP. During the 1980s and early 1990s, Bob Stern and Frank Gehry were part of the board of the SOM Foundation.

The SOM Foundation is pleased to announce the opening of the 2025 Robert L. Wesley Award. The award supports BIPOC undergraduate students enrolled in architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture, urban design, or engineering programs in the United States. This year, three students will receive a $10,000 award in addition to a yearlong mentorship program that connects the students with leading BIPOC practitioners and educators. The award is named in honor of Robert L. Wesley, the first Black partner at SOM.

The SOM Foundation is pleased to announce the opening of the 2025 Research Prize. Two $30,000 prizes will be awarded to faculty-led interdisciplinary teams based in the United States to conduct original research that contributes to this year’s topic, “Exploring the Potential of Mobility Corridors.” The Research Prize was created in 2018 to cultivate new ideas and meaningful research that addresses the critical issues of our time.

The SOM Foundation is pleased to announce the opening of the 2025 European Research Prize. The €20,000 prize will be awarded to a faculty-led interdisciplinary team based in Europe to conduct original research that contributes to this year’s topic, “Exploring the Potential of Mobility Corridors.” The European Research Prize was created in 2021 to cultivate new ideas and meaningful research that addresses the critical issues of our time.

The SOM Foundation is pleased to announce the speakers for the third William F. Baker International Research and Design Forum in Madrid. This year’s edition will take place on Thursday, November 6, 2025, and will be organized in partnership with the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid (ETSAM) on the campus of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.