Upali Nanda

Dr. Upali Nanda is EVP and Global Sector Director for Innovation at HKS, an international architectural firm where she oversees a range of innovation practices that work within, through and beyond the built environment for meaningful impact. Prior to her current role she served as the global research director for the firm and as the Executive Director for the non-profit Center for Advanced Design Research and Education. Dr. Nanda teaches as Associate Professor of Practice at the Taubman School of Architecture and Urban Planning at University of Michigan and serves on the board of the Academy for Neuroscience for Architecture. Dr. Nanda’s research has been awarded the AIA Upjohn Grant, European Healthcare Design Research Award, and Journal of Interior Design Scholarship Excellence award. In 2018 Dr. Nanda was recognized with Architectural Record’s Women in Architecture Innovator Award. In 2021 she was featured in the book “100 Women Who Changed Architecture” for her research on designing spaces that promote healthy behaviors.