Iraq: Dame Zaha Hadid
Born in 1950 in Baghdad, Iraq, Dame Zaha Hadid was an Iraqi-British architect and the first woman recipient of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Gold Medal (2016). She was also the first woman awarded the “Design of the Year” award by the London Design Museum (2014), and the first woman awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize (2004).
Dame Hadid was the founder of Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA), headquartered in London, England (1979). She studied mathematics at the American University of Beirut in Beirut, Lebanon (1968–1971) before studying architecture at the Architectural Association School in London, England (1977). After graduation she worked at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture in Rotterdam, Netherlands (1977). Dame Hadid also worked in academia at various institutions around the world. A selection of her academic positions includes the appointment of a guest professor at the Masters Studio at Columbia University in New York City, New York; the Kenzo Tange Chair at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts; the Sullivan Chair at the University of Illinois at Chicago in Chicago, Illinois; a guest professor at Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Hamburg, Germany; a guest professor at the Knowlton School of Architecture at The Ohio State University; the Eero Saarinen Visiting Professor of Architectural Design at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut; a guest professor at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna in Vienna, Austria; and a guest professor at the Architectural Association School in London (until 1987).
Dame Hadid served as a member of the Editorial Board of Advisors for the Encyclopaedia Britannica (2005–2006), and her work was featured in numerous publications. She earned an honorary doctor of fine arts from Yale University (2006) and was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II (2012). Her extensive list of professional accomplishments can be viewed in her digital archive. Dame Zaha Hadid died in Miami, Florida, in 2016.
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