Thomas Fisher is professor, director of the Minnesota Design Center, and Dayton Hudson Chair in Urban Design in the College of Design at the University of Minnesota.

Fisher served for 19 years as a dean at the University of Minnesota and became the director of the Minnesota Design Center in 2015. His research has focused on sustainable architecture, design ethics, and community-based service design.

Recognized in 2005 as the fifth most published writer about architecture in the United States, Fisher has written 9 books, over 50 book chapters or introductions, and over 400 articles in professional journals and major publications. Named a top-25 design educator four times by Design Intelligence, he has lectured at 36 universities and over 150 professional and public meetings. He has written extensively about architectural design, practice, and ethics. His latest book, Designing our Way to a Better World (Minnesota) came out in 2016.

R.T. Rybak became President and CEO of the Minneapolis Foundation in 2016 after careers in journalism, publishing, urban development and marketing, and 12 years as Mayor of Minneapolis. Under his leadership the Foundation has more than doubled the money it directs to nonprofits, now granting more than $100 million a year in Minnesota and around the world. The Foundation’s giving program focuses on equity and justice in education, economic mobility, and the environment, creating what Rybak calls a “community of generosity” to align like-minded fundholders with emerging community needs. Rybak’s deepest passion is creating career pathways for youth of color, including his founding and ongoing work with Step Up, a youth employment program that has served more than 34,000 Minneapolis high school students since 2003.

Jennifer Yoos became Head of the School of Architecture in June of 2020. She is an architect and educator and has previously taught as the NADAAA Visiting Professor at Cooper Union, the Ruth and Norman Moore Visiting Professor at Washington University in St. Louis, the John G. Williams Distinguished Professor at the University of Arkansas and as a faculty member at the University of Minnesota (1997-2015).

Jennifer is principal and president of VJAA. Based in Minneapolis, the firm is known for its innovative approach to architectural practice, environmental design, and highly crafted buildings. VJAA's practice is grounded in the study of how architecture is interwoven with its social, cultural, and material context. VJAA's work is research-based, experimental, and intentionally diverse, including a wide range of scales from urban design and infrastructure, to architecture, adaptive reuse, installations, and furniture.