IIDA is pleased to announce the winners of its annual Of the Year Awards and the Star Award. This year’s Member of the Year is FCA Associate and Project Interior Designer, Alexandra Bonner, IIDA. The Student of the Year, sponsored by OFS, is Hailey Fuller, Student IIDA. The Educator of the Year, sponsored by KI, is University of Texas at Austin Associate Professor and Director of the Interior Design Program, Igor Siddiqui, IIDA. In addition to these awards, IIDA is also pleased to announce Perkins&Will Director of Global Diversity and Principal, Gabrielle Bullock, IIDA, FAIA, NOMAC as the recipient of the 2022 Star Award.
Each award recognizes IIDA members who demonstrate outstanding commitment, passion, professionalism, and dedication to IIDA as well as the design community.
“It’s an honor to recognize high-achieving designers at various points in their careers,” said IIDA Executive Vice President and CEO Cheryl S. Durst, Hon. FIIDA. “The Of the Year winners and Star Award recipient showcase our industry’s incredible talent and encompass leadership, drive, talent, and ingenuity.”
The IIDA Member of the Year Award recognizes and honors an IIDA member who has demonstrated volunteer service and dedication to assisting IIDA as it advances the commercial interior design profession and advocates for interior design excellence. The award includes a $7,500 cash prize and a complimentary IIDA membership.
Alexandra Bonner, IIDA, is an associate and healthcare interior designer with FCA in Philadelphia. She received her B.F.A in Interior Design from the Cleveland Institute of Art and her M.S. in Interior Architecture from Jefferson University. She serves as an Adjunct Professor and Thesis Advisor at Drexel University and volunteers in a variety of capacities with A&D industry related organizations throughout the greater Philadelphia region. When not focusing on improving human experience through the built environment, Bonner works to cultivate space for equitable inhabitation through a dedicated yoga practice where she is also a Certified Yoga Instructor.
The IIDA Student of the Year Award recognizes an IIDA Student Member who has significantly impacted their school’s interior design program through outstanding leadership, insight, and involvement. The award includes a $5,000 cash prize, sponsored by OFS, and a complimentary IIDA membership.
Hailey Fuller, Student IIDA, ASID, recently received a bachelor’s degree in Interior Design from Auburn University’s CIDA accredited program. She is active in her local IIDA chapter and campus center and served as the Public Relations Officer for an on-campus organization for members of IIDA and ASID. In 2021, she won Best of Students for Corporate/Office Design at the Alabama Chapter IDIES. As a student, she served in various leadership roles on campus including being an ambassador for the College of Human Sciences, a teaching assistant for multiple studio courses, and a CIDA ambassador. Fuller’s passions for sustainable design led her to earn a minor in sustainability studies and become an accredited LEED Green Associate.
The IIDA Educator of the Year Award recognizes and celebrates a full-time design educator for outstanding accomplishments and commitment to interior design education. The award includes a $10,000 cash prize, sponsored by KI, and a complimentary IIDA membership.
Igor Siddiqui, IIDA, ASID, is the associate professor and director of the interior design program at The University of Texas at Austin, where he has served as a full-time School of Architecture faculty member since 2009. Siddiqui’s academic work—including teaching, research, and creative scholarship—contributes to the field of interiors as a body of theoretical and applied knowledge with a critical role in contemporary culture. His work has been published, exhibited, and presented internationally at a range of professional, cultural, and popular venues. He studied architecture at Yale and Tulane and is a registered architect in New York and Texas.
The IIDA Star Award recognizes individuals or organizations that have significantly impacted the interior design profession and industry through their noteworthy vision and body of work.
Throughout her nearly three decades with Perkins&Will, Director of Global Diversity and Principal, Gabrielle Bullock, IIDA, FAIA, NOMAC, has led the team and the firm’s clients to massive success at the intersections of architecture and social justice. Bullock was the first African American and first woman to rise to the position of managing director at the Perkins&Will Los Angeles office and is a leader across a number of high-profile and award-winning projects, cultivating a culture of inclusivity, diversity, and equity at her firm and throughout the industry. Bullock is a past president of the IIDA International Board and has say on several industry boards. She is known throughout the field as a leader, changemaker, activist, and visionary.
