2022 Career Achievement Award Honoree

Wayne Benjamin, City College of New York Class of 1980, is a licensed architect with 40 years of diverse experience in architecture, planning, construction management, project management, and community development.  His professional interests include community revitalization, urban design, real estate development, city planning, historic preservation, and adaptive re-use. 

Wayne is Chief of the Job Order Contracting (“JOC”) program for the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (“DASNY”) and is responsible for its operations statewide.  Before serving a Chief of the JOC Program, he directed the operations of DASNY’s Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprise program in New York City, Long Island and Westchester.  He served as the Director of Residential Development for Harlem Community Development Corporation (“Harlem CDC”) for 18 years.  During his tenure Harlem CDC was instrumental in advancing vital affordable homeownership, home buyer education, small business development, arts and cultural, and other community and economic revitalization initiatives in Upper Manhattan.  Wayne also worked for public and private entities including the NYC Department of General Services (now known as the Department of Citywide Administrative Services), Tishman Realty and Construction, the Health and Hospitals Corporation, and Merrill Lynch and Company.

Wayne is a member of Manhattan Community Board 12 and has chaired its Land Use Committee since 2003.  Under his leadership the Land Use committee completed, in partnership with the City College Architecture Center, now the J. Max Bond Center for Urban Futures, the first land use and neighborhood planning study for Washington Heights and Inwood.  Wayne is Vice President of the Board of Trustees of the Morris-Jumel Mansion Historic House and Museum.  Among his areas of focus are advancing an exterior restoration project for the mansion and advocating to ensure that the museum remains relevant to diverse contemporary audiences.  An active member of the Board of Directors of his co-op, Wayne currently serves as President of the Board and leads its efforts to implement a 10-year capital improvement plan for the 111-year-old landmarked building.

Wayne is a member of the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the National Organization of Minority Architects / New York Coalition of Black Architects, the New York Chapter of 100 Black Men, and the Historic Districts Council Board of Advisors.  He enjoys travel and photography.  His photos of Cuba were featured in the 2016 Uptown Arts Stroll, the 2016 Harlem/Havana Exhibit at Harlem Hospital’s Mural Pavilion, and in the 2017 Harlem Havana International Art and Photography Exhibition, also at Harlem Hospital’s Mural Pavilion. 

Wayne Benjamin holds a Master of Science in Architecture and a Master of City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Bachelor of Architecture from the City College of New York, a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the New York Institute of Technology, and a Diploma in Real Estate with a concentration in Financial Analysis from New York University.  He is a native New Yorker and a graduate of the High School of Art and Design.