Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman

Co-Investigators at UC San Diego

Teddy Cruz is a Professor of Public Culture and Spatial Practice in the Department of Visual Arts at the University of California, San Diego. He is known internationally for his urban research of the Tijuana/San Diego border, advancing border neighborhoods as sites of cultural production from which to rethink urban policy, affordable housing, and public space. Recipient of the Rome Prize in Architecture in 1991, his honors include the Ford Foundation Visionaries Award in 2011, the 2013 Architecture Award from the US Academy of Arts and Letters, and the 2018 Vilcek Prize in Architecture. Cruz is a principal in Estudio Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman, a research-based political and architectural practice in San Diego investigating borders, informal urbanization, civic infrastructure and public culture.

For UC CAAN, Cruz serves as Co-Principal Investigator at UC San Diego, leading work through the UCSD-EarthLab Community Station and helping develop climate-action fellowships, community-based cultural programs, and educational initiatives focused on neighborhood-scale adaptation and resilience.

Fonna Forman (JD, PhD Chicago) is a Professor of Political Theory and Founding Director of the Center on Global Justice at the University of California, San Diego.Trained as a political theorist, Forman’s research focuses on climate justice, borders, migration and informal urbanization. Forman is co-chair of the University of California President’s Global Climate Leadership Council, and until 2019 served on the Global Citizenship Commission, advising United Nations policy on human rights in the 21st century. Forman is a principal in Estudio Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman, a research-based political and architectural practice in San Diego investigating borders, informal urbanization, civic infrastructure and public culture. With UCSD climate scientist Ram Ramanathan, she also leads the University of California’s climate education initiative, Bending the Curve: Climate Solutions, adopted by universities and agencies across California and the world.

For UC CAAN, Forman serves as Co-Investigator at UC San Diego, guiding the climate content of project activities, supporting public communications, and helping curate fellowships and cultural programs through the UCSD Community Stations and EarthLab initiatives.