Big doings at the City College of New York.
“We are happy to announce Shawn L. Rickenbacker as the new director of the J. Max Bond Center for Urban Futures,” said City College President Vincent Boudreau. “We selected someone who we believe has the commitment and the qualifications to be our new director. The J. Max Bond institute is a unique feature of the City College of New York—a place designed to mobilize the campus’ architectural expertise in service to the community that surrounds us.”
Along with the role as the director of the JMBC, Rickenbacker will also be an associate professor of architecture for the City College of New York. Rickenbacker was appointed by Boudreau and acting dean of the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture, Gordon Gebert.
“I am honored to help continue the J. Max Bond legacy,” said Rickenbacker. “J. Max Bond was such an inspiration to me and other architects. We saw his commitment wanting to improve life in the city through research and design.”
The JMBC was established in 2009. The center was built to honor the legacy of architect and architecture dean at CCNY, J. Max Bond.
Rickenbacker was born and raised in New York City. He earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Syracuse University and a certificate in Advanced Digital Interaction Design from New York University, Center of Advanced Digital Applications. He received his Master of Architecture from the University of Virginia, with a certificate in American Urbanism.
Rickenbacker is the co-founder of the Urban Data + Design, a foundation that focuses on identifying and demonstrating the relevance of how data can influence our decision making. They work with agencies, nonprofits organizations and companies.
Rickenbacker was a finalist for the PopTech Social Innovation Fellowship in 2012. An organization that focuses on scientists and leaders creating innovate methods to improve social entrepreneurship, PopTech hosts an annual competition among 10 to 20 innovative thinkers to determine the best method to solve global problems.
Rickenbacker has served as a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Design, Syracuse University, Ohio State University and the University of Virginia. He currently serves as Gensler Visiting Professor at Cornell University.
Rickenbacker was the co-founder of Creative Front, an organization focusing on architectural designs and development; creative director of Bronson Agency, a firm that focuses on product branding and research; and a partner of Rickenbacker + Leung, a foundation that provides design services, branding and strategic development modeling.
He has worked in South Africa, Finland, England and Japan.
“Looking forward,” said Rickenbacker, “I plan to provide new educational opportunities and advanced research for the JMBC. We encourage creativity and thorough research.”