Robert A.M. Stern is a practicing architect, teacher, and writer. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, and in 2017 received the Topaz Medallion, awarded jointly by the AIA and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture in recognition of outstanding service to architectural education. Mr. Stern is the 2011 Driehaus Prize laureate and in 2008 received the tenth Vincent Scully Prize from the National Building Museum. In 2007, he received both the Athena Award from the Congress for the New Urbanism and the Board of Directors' Honor from the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art. He has been a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences since 2007 and a member of the American Academy of Arts & Letters since 2011. As founder and Senior Partner of Robert A.M. Stern Architects, he personally directs the design of each of the firm's projects

Mr. Stern served as Dean of the Yale School of Architecture from 1998 to 2016; he was named J.M. Hoppin Professor of Architecture in 2000. Before returning to Yale, where he received his Master of Architecture degree in 1965, he was Professor of Architecture and Director of the Historic Preservation Program at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University. Mr. Stern served from 1984 to 1988 as the first director of Columbia's Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture. He has lectured extensively in the United States and abroad on both historical and contemporary topics in architecture. He is the author of several books, including New Directions in American Architecture (Braziller, 1969; revised edition, 1977); George Howe: Toward a Modern American Architecture (Yale University Press, 1975); Modern Classicism (London: Thames & Hudson; New York: Rizzoli, 1988); The Philip Johnson Tapes: Interviews by Robert A.M. Stern (Monacelli, 2008); Architecture on the Edge of Postmodernism: Collected Essays 1964–1988 (Yale University Press, 2009); and Tradition and Invention in Architecture: Conversations and Essays (Yale University Press, 2011); Mr. Stern's profound interest in the development of New York City's architecture and urbanism can be seen in his books, New York 1900 (Rizzoli, 1983) coauthored with John Massengale and Gregory Gilmartin; New York 1930 (Rizzoli, 1987) coauthored with Thomas Mellins and Gregory Gilmartin, which was nominated for a National Book Award, an unusual distinction for a book about architecture; New York 1960 (Monacelli, 1995); New York 1880 (Monacelli, 1999) coauthored with Thomas Mellins and David Fishman; and New York 2000 (Monacelli, 2006), coauthored with David Fishman and Jacob Tilove. Paradise Planned: The Garden Suburb and the Modern City (Monacelli, 2013), co-authored with David Fishman and Jacob Tilove, was published in 2013. Pedagogy and Place: 100 Years of Architecture Education at Yale (Yale University Press, 2016), co-authored with Jimmy Stamp, was released in 2016.