SAH Women in Architecture Affiliate Group
Letter from the Chair
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
October 27, 2025 (updates added on November 24)
Thank you for your support and engagement beyond all distances and borders! The year 2025 marked five years of creative activism of SAH Women in Architecture Affiliate Group, we celebrated this threshold at the 1×1 IAWA Chicago event this August. Our gratitude is due to Society of Architectural Historians for lasting support of our vision, projects, and programs. Please see our SAH WiA AG Semi-Annual Report 10.12.2025 submitted as requested to the SAH Board.
Currently SAH Women in Architecture Affiliate Group is the largest SAH group with the listserv directory over 600 members. In 2019 with gracious support from SAH Executive Director Pauline Saliga, 24 founding members, joined by 49 SAH members, I had the privilege to initiate and submit a proposal to the SAH Board of Directors to create this Group. The proposal was approved by the SAH Board and the SAH WiA AG was officially established following the 2020 SAH Annual Conference. Now we develop 10 programs, administer 5 media platforms, create our annual staple program in celebration of Women’s History Month! The SAH WiA AG Registers Committee composes empowering documents, members of our Legacy Committee spearhead inspiring projects. The structured SAH WiA AG Archive documenting our groundwork years and containing 386 files, that I collated and following the review of the WiA Council submitted in 2023, has been accessioned this year and is preserved in the International Archive of Women in Architecture IAWA at Virginia Tech University Library. We have a copyrighted Group Logo, and our leadership team has created Bylaws in accord with SAH Bylaws. SAH WiA AG provides a vibrant platform for academic initiatives, supports sessions and participates in SAH Conferences and SAH Connects Programs, develops mentoring and other virtual events, collaborates with SAH affiliate groups, contributes to essential SAH events and projects, supports in sisterhood our peers across continents.
Our SAH WiA AG Council is now discussing further transformations to expand the leadership cohort and better serve SAH members. While turning 70 next year, I will contribute as Advising Chair and also continue serving as Chair of SAH WiA AG Legacy Committee. I am in hope that the incoming wonderful cohort of SAH WiA AG Co-Chairs will broaden and advance our programs in the future. The nominated outstanding candidates are Drs. Valeria Casali, Anat Falbel, Harriet Harriss, Kateryna Malaia, Carmen Popescu, Mara Sanchez Llorens, Ashley Simone, Ruo Jia. With all my heart I recognize the unlimited potential of the SAH WiA AG and am grateful for the remarkable impact of the outstanding leadership team as well as of extraordinary colleagues whose term ended this year: Rebecca Siefert, Associate Chair, and Priya Jain, Executive Administrator.
My sincere gratitude goes to Dr. Mohammad Gharipour, SAH President, Dr. Swati Chattopadhyay, Vice President, Anne Hill Bird, Director of Engagement and Outreach, Dr. Ben Thomas, Executive Director, Dr. Gail Dubrow, Treasurer, Christopher Kirbabas, Director of Programs, to all SAH Board Officers and Directors and to the SAH Staff, for sustaining the SAH WiA AG mission aimed to ensure women’s contribution to the built environment is unearthed, recognized, and celebrated.
Wishing you happy holidays, peace of mind, and memorable connections with your favorite people,
Anna Sokolina
