Michael Arad
Michael Arad, B.A., M.Arch., AIA, is best known for his design for the National September 11 Memorial at the World Trade Center site, titled “Reflecting Absence,” which was selected by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation from among more than 5,000 entries submitted in an international competition held in 2003. Arad joined the New York firm of Handel Architects as a partner in April 2004, where he worked on realizing the Memorial design as a member of the firm. A native of Israel, Arad was raised there, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Mexico. He came to the United States and earned his B.A. from Dartmouth College in 1994 and M.Arch. from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1999. In 2006, he was one of six recipients of the Young Architects Award of the American Institute of Architects. In 2012, he was awarded the AIA Presidential Citation for his work on the National September 11 Memorial.