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James Polshek (born 1930, Akron, Ohio) is an American architect currently living in New York City. His career as practitioner, educator and public advocate is in its fifth decade. He is Senior Design Counsel to Polshek Partnership, which he established in 1963.

Mr. Polshek received a Master of Architecture degree from Yale University Graduate School of Architecture in 1955 and in 1956, was a Fulbright Fellow at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. He holds Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degrees from Pratt Institute (1995) and the New School University Parsons School of Design (1995) and an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from New Jersey Institute of Technology (2002). He received the Gold Medal from the New York City chapter of the American Institute of Architects in 1986. In 2002, he was honored with the Municipal Art Society’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal, and was also inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2005, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

From 1972 to 1987 Mr. Polshek was Dean of the Faculty of the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and Special Advisor to the President for Planning and Design at Columbia University, where he is a tenured Professor of Architecture. While at Columbia University, he established the Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture, on whose Executive Committee he served for ten years. During this period, he co-founded Architects, Designers and Planners for Social Responsibility. He currently serves on the advisory boards of the New York School of Interior Design and the Lycée Français de New York.

National Museum of American Jewish History, Philadelphia, PA (2010)

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Center, Washington, D.C. (2009)

Newseum/Freedom Forum Foundation World Headquarters, Washington, D.C. (2007)

Syracuse University, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse, NY (2007)

Yale University Art Gallery Kahn Building Renovation, New Haven, CT (2006)

William J. Clinton Presidential Center, Little Rock, AR (2004)

Brooklyn Museum, Entry Pavilion and Plaza, Brooklyn, NY (2004)

Lycée Français de New York, New York, NY (2003)

Smith College, Brown Fine Arts Center, Northampton, MA (2003)

Carnegie Hall, Zankel Hall, New York, NY (2003)

Copia: The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts, Napa, CA (2001)

Scandinavia House: The Nordic Center in America, New York, NY (2001)

American Museum of Natural History, Rose Center for Earth and Space, New York, NY (2000)

The Santa Fe Opera, Santa Fe, NM (1998)

Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of the American Indian Cultural Resources Center, Suitland, MD (1998)

Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, Mashantucket, CT (1998)

Stanford University, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts, Stanford, CA (1998)

The New York Times Printing Plant, Queens, NY (1997)

Columbia University Law School, Jerome L. Greene Hall Expansion, New York, NY (1996)

National Inventors Hall of Fame, Akron, OH (1995)

Center for the Arts Theater, Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco, CA (1993)

Seamen’s Church Institute, New York, NY (1991)

Museum of the City of New York Master Plan, New York, NY (1989)

Carnegie Hall, Main Hall and Building Renovation and Restoration, New York, NY (1987)

Brooklyn Museum Master Plan, Brooklyn, NY (1987)

500 Park Tower, New York, NY (1984)

Carnegie Hall Master Plan, New York, NY (1980)

New York State Bar Center, Albany, NY (1972)

Quinco Regional Mental Health Center, Columbus, IN (1971)

Art Commission of the City of New York

American Academy of Arts and Letters, Fellow

American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Fellow

Architects, Designers and Planners for Social Responsibility, Founder, Member of the Board of Advisors

National Academy of Design, Fellow

Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Regent

New York School of Design, Advisory Board

Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture at Columbia University, Founder, Former Member of the Board of Directors

Regional Plan Association, Board Member

Lycée Français de New York, Advisory Committee

Symphony Space, Member of the Board of Directors

American Institute of Architects, College of Fellows

• Polshek Partnership Architects Homepage
• CWRU article about Polshek, his firm, and the Clinton Center design.
• Awarding of CWRU Distinguished Alumni Award
• Biography at newseum.org
• Controversy over design for the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.
• James Polshek at the archINFORM database
• Information at greatbuildings.com