Jacob R. Moore Named Executive Director of The Architectural League of New York

On June 14, 2023, the board of directors of The Architectural League of New York named Jacob R. Moore as its next executive director, following an extensive national search.

As executive director, Moore will lead all aspects of one of the most respected architectural institutions in the nation, a diverse association of professionals and students who seek to enrich the practices of architecture, design, and urbanism by engaging the enduring and evolving needs of the fields.

Moore succeeds Rosalie Genevro as the League’s executive director. Genevro announced her decision to step down from the role last year after leading the organization for nearly four decades.

Moore’s first official day will be Tuesday, September 5th.

“Jacob brings tremendous passion and a deep knowledge of the most important forces and issues impacting the built environment today,” said Mario Gooden, president of the League’s board of directors. “His vision for the future of the League and his commitment to equity, spatial justice, and the environment make him the ideal person to shape our next chapter.”

“I’m humbled and honored to be asked to lead this storied, essential organization,” said Moore. “At a moment of flagging faith in design’s capacity—or even its willingness—to meaningfully address the intertwined demands for climate, social, and economic justice, the fields of the built environment require a strong cultural infrastructure committed to the support of important, difficult work. There is no better representation of this infrastructure than The Architectural League.”

Moore comes to the role after serving most recently as the associate director of the Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation. During his time at the Buell Center, he led the design, development, and execution of a wide array of public programs that advanced critical understandings of the built environment and its role relative to climate change, racial equity, and social justice. In particular, Moore was a driving force behind such innovative programs as “The Green New Deal: A Public Assembly,” “Unbroken Windows,” and “Democracy in Retreat: Master Planning in a Warming World.”

Moore also led the curatorial teams for Living in America: Frank Lloyd Wright, Harlem & Modern Housing, the Buell Center’s collaboration with the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery at Columbia University and the Museum of Modern Art, as well as House Housing: An Untimely History of Architecture and Real Estate, a major traveling exhibition that put a critical, historically informed spotlight on the connections between architecture and real estate development.

An accomplished writer, editor and publisher, Moore is also a founding editor of The Avery Review. He co-edited Green Reconstruction: A Curricular Toolkit for the Built Environment and The A&E System: Public Works and Private Interest in Architectural and Engineering Services, 2000–2020; and co-authored The Art of Inequality: Architecture, Housing and Real Estate, among many others.

Previously he served as an associate editor at Princeton Architectural Press. Moore has also contributed to such publications as Artforum International, Future Anterior, and The League’s own Urban Omnibus.

Earlier in his career, Moore spent two years in the United States Peace Corps where he served as a municipal development advisor in Tacaná, San Marcos, Guatemala.

Moore received a bachelor of arts in architecture from Columbia College at Columbia University and a master’s of science in Critical, Curatorial, and Conceptual Practices in Architecture from Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.

The search was led by Koya Partners, an executive recruiting firm.

For more information: Rachel Judlowe, Rachel@judlowe.com