Tiffany Brown selected as 28th Distinguished Architecture Alumni Award recipient

 

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. — Lawrence Technological University’s (LTU) College of Architecture and Design has selected award-winning executive Tiffany Brown as its 28th Distinguished Architecture Alumni (DAA) Award recipient.

The Distinguished Architecture Alumni Award recognizes alumni for their professional accomplishments, dedication to community service, and support of LTU’s College of Architecture and Design.

Brown, founder and CEO of 400 Forward | Girls Toward Architecture & Design that launched in 2017 as a comprehensive program to introduce young girls to architecture, provide scholarships and wrap-around services to college students, and pay for study materials and licensing exams for African American women in architecture. This is a demographic of women who represent less than half of one percent of licensed architects in the US.

Before transitioning into association leadership with the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA), Tiffany Brown built over 15 years of experience in architecture and construction administration, including her role as a Project Manager at SmithGroup’s Detroit office, where she led multidisciplinary teams on complex design projects. She also spent 11 years at Hamilton Anderson Associates, contributing to a wide range of urban planning, civic, and institutional developments-gaining deep experience in project delivery, stakeholder coordination, and in integration of equitable design practices.

An award-winner for championing belonging and opportunity for minorities in her profession, Brown has been described as “an expert advocate for improving representation in the design industry, raising awareness of NOMA’s efforts to draw minority students into the architecture profession” by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards.

DAAA committee chair Tracy Sweeney said, “One of several things that set Tiffany apart from the rest of the nominees was the depth of her commitment to providing resources, mentorship and exposure to young African American women following her into the profession. Many of us recognize the challenges and talk about the need to improve the pipeline, but I’m not aware of anyone who has taken more direct action towards specific, actionable solutions than Tiffany. Her personal professional achievements are worthy of recognition on their own, but her impact is amplified by the difference that she has made for these future architects, and by extension, for the entire profession.”

Brown graduated from LTU with a Bachelor of Science in Architecture in 2004, a Master of Architecture in 2007, and a Master of Business Administration in 2015. She is an associate member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Since 2017, Brown has been an adjunct professor of architecture at her alma mater.

“Tiffany Brown is the epitome of an LTU architecture graduate,” said Lilian Crum, interim dean of the College of Architecture and Design. “She represents the very best of what it means to be an LTU architecture graduate. She’s a leader in her field, a powerful advocate for equity in architecture, and a role model whose work exemplifies the kind of impact our graduates can make on both the profession and society.”

Brown will deliver a lecture titled “The Architecture of Change” and be formally presented with LTU’s DAA Award on October 20, 2025, in the Lear Auditorium on the Lawrence Tech campus. The event, free and open to the public, starts at 6:30 p.m. For more information and to register, click here.

Lawrence Technological University, www.ltu.edu, is one of only 13 independent, technological, comprehensive doctoral universities in the United States. Located in Southfield, Mich., LTU was founded in 1932, and offers more than 100 programs through its Colleges of Architecture and Design, Arts and Sciences, Business and Information Technology, Engineering, and Health Sciences, as well as Specs@LTU, which offers communication training programs of the former Specs Howard School, and LTU’s growing Center for Professional Development. PayScale lists Lawrence Tech among the nation’s top 11 percent of universities for alumni salaries. Forbes and The Wall Street Journal rank LTU among the nation’s top 10 percent. U.S. News and World Report lists it in the top tier of best in the Midwest colleges. Students benefit from small class sizes and a real-world, hands-on, “theory and practice” education with an emphasis on leadership. Activities on Lawrence Tech’s 107-acre campus include more than 60 student organizations and NAIA varsity sports.

 

Editor’s Note: To arrange an interview with Interim Dean Crum or Tiffany Brown, please contact Renée Ahee, 586-484-2390 or rahee@yellowflagproductions.com.