Joseph Betz

Joseph A. Betz is a full Professor in the Department of Architecture and Construction Management at Farmingdale State College, State University of New York.  He is also a former Chair where he was responsible for all administrative, assessment/accreditation, scheduling and budgeting aspects of the Department's undergraduate and beginnings of it's graduate programs.  He received his academic and architectural training at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University.  He has been licensed to practice architecture since 1989 and has more than 20 years of experience as a principal or partner of an architectural design firm.

His area of expertise is in design theory, where he is the coordinator of the first-year architectural design studio sequence.  He also teaches courses in architectural theory and architectural history.  He has mentored students in design competitions and community service projects.  He has served the as the faculty advisor for the Architectural Construction Technology (ACT) Student Club for more than a quarter century.  

Professor Betz’s current area of research is also in the areas of design, conceptual combination theory and creativity.  He uses cognitive behavioral experiments to measure design methodology and creativity.  His research has been supported by a multi-year grant through the National Science Foundation where he has served as the Co-Principle Investigator for NSF IIS-0856038 ($257,376.00) that included four other major research universities.  He has also served as an external PhD advisor in the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Stony Brook University as an expert in design theory.  He has more than 30 publications in the area of architectural pedagogy and design theory and has served as Division Chair, Program Chair and Proceedings Editor at the national level for the Architectural Engineering Division of the American Society of Engineering Education. 

Professor Betz is a recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching (2000), the Farmingdale State College Presidential CARES Award (2016) and the Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology (CTLT) Innovative Pedagogy Award (2022).  He has chaired for many years the College’s tenure committee and plays a role in mentoring junior faculty at the Department level.  He has also served the public as a member of the Brookhaven Town Planning Board and currently serves on the Historic District Advisory Committee (HDAC is an architectural review board for the Town's 16 historic districts) for his expertise in architectural history and styles.

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