Clarification and Correction of My Published Board Member Biography in the July 2026 MACA Newsletter
My edited published biography without my prior review or confirmation: MACA Newsletter, July, 2026, p.5, ttps://maca.earth/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/MACA-Newsletter-Issue-7-Summer-2026.pdf, last accessed on July 19, 2026.
The biography below is the original version I submitted to the MIT Alumni for Climate Action (MACA) July 2026 Newsletter on July 5th, 2026 as requested. It is reproduced here to preserve the accuracy of my MIT affiliation and the original wording of my submitted text. In my original submitted biography, I write that “she conducted her post-Ph.D. research as a visiting scholar at the Department of Architecture...”. However, in the edited published version by MACA, the description of my MIT affiliation was changed to “postdoctoral research” without my prior review or confirmation. For accuracy, my actual MIT affiliation was as a visiting scholar conducting post-Ph.D. research at the Department of Architecture; not as a postdoctoral researcher. At the time of submission on July 5th 2026, I also included the following written request: "If any editorial changes are considered necessary, I would appreciate being informed in advance, and I would be grateful if the final version could be published only upon my confirmation." In keeping with my respect for and commitment to MIT’s values of integrity and accuracy, I would like to clarify and correct this information, which was changed during the editorial process and published without my prior review or confirmation.
The original version of my biography submitted on July 5th, 2026:
Trained as an architect, Meral Ekincioglu, Ph.D. is a committed scholar with professional, curatorial, teaching, and publishing experience in her field. At MIT, she conducted her post-Ph.D. research as a visiting scholar at the Department of Architecture and served as an architectural curator for the MIT-Archnet. Prior to this, she conducted her Ph.D. research as a research scholar at Harvard University, History of Art and Architecture Ph.D. Program and at Columbia University, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Ph.D. Program.
Ekincioglu
has contributed to more than 100,000 square meters of built projects, gaining
direct insight into the role of climate-responsive design in advancing
sustainable and resilient built environments. She believes that meaningful
climate action in the built environment begins with understanding how
environmental, geographic, spatial, cultural, and historical contexts shape
human needs. Within
this framework, architectural design brings together environmental knowledge,
local context and technology to create climate-responsive environments that are
resilient and responsive to community needs. Her climate leadership has been
strengthened by her Certificate of Leadership from the City of Cambridge and 13
American Institute of Architects–approved certificates of completion in climate
change, resilience and adaptation.
She has been leading the establishment and development of the Architecture Group, initiated by MACA. Under her leadership, the Group’s action-based goal prioritizes the integrative capacity of architectural design intelligence at the intersection of human essential living-space needs, building systems and their operation, technology, culture, history, and innovative thinking, to mitigate and adapt to climate change, through targeted engagement with leaders and alumni of MIT SA+P, the home of the oldest architectural course of study in the U.S. With a structured framework and methodology, the Group’s current work focuses on global climate action initiatives spanning the U.S., Brazil, Syria, and Türkiye, the host of COP31.
In her field of expertise, she has served twice as an invited nominator for the Aga Khan Awards for Architecture, delivered 40 presentations, published over 30 international works, and taught both graduate and undergraduate levels.
By engaging fully across all MIT schools from humanities, arts, social sciences to architecture, engineering and technology, she identifies an important opportunity to further strengthen MACA’s leadership in climate action. In alignment with MIT’s 17th President Rafael L. Reif’s statement that “MIT’s greatest invention may be itself,” she recognizes the Institute’s global alumni community as a powerful force for climate action and a better world.