Alex Bitterman, Master of Architecture, Ph.D., is an associate professor of Architecture in the Golisano Institute for Sustainability at Rochester Institute of Technology.

Dr. Bitterman is an internationally recognized expert in place branding and place-based identity systems. After several years of research Dr. Bitterman has developed a taxonomy of place brands which identifies the five main types of place brands but also provides a basis for testing the efficacy of place brands. This research forms the basis of many presentations and consulting relationships around the world. His most recent work on place branding will be published in The Journal of Town & City Management in 2013.

Dr. Bitterman is the founding editor and editor-in-chief of Multi: the Journal of Responsible Architecture and Design (http://www.multi-journal.org, ISSN 1942-3527) a refereed scholarly journal serving a global audience. Multi examines issues of social responsibility as it relates to design as well as societal impact in design practice and design education. He is also a member of the editorial boards of the International Journal of Business Anthropology, Critical Studies in Men’s Fashion, and Center Working Papers Press. Bitterman is the author of Buffalo is a Cool Place to Live (May 2006 k629 Press, ISBN-13: 978-1-4116-8751-6), as well as Design Survey: a Workbook Introduction to the Design Disciplines (November 2010, Pearson, ISBN 0-536-51736-3) now in its second edition.

Previously, as Fred R. Brunkow Fellow at the University at Buffalo, Dr. Bitterman was the editor-in-chief of Intersight and oversaw the development of its first digital edition.

Dr. Bitterman is the area chair for Material and Design Culture for the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association. He maintains an active relationship with DIS, The Danish institute for Study Abroad, as a guest lecturer and visiting design critic. He was recognized by the New York State Council for the Humanities and was named a Council Fellow in 2006.

Dr. Bitterman also investigates the effectiveness, typology and functional usability of identity and wayfinding systems for public transit systems along with his research partner, Daniel Baldwin Hess who is a member of the faculty at the University at Buffalo. His work with Dr. Hess on the identity of Bus Rapid Transit systems was recognized with honors in 2005. The team has presented highlights of their innovative research around North America, Europe, and Japan. Scholarly articles stemming from their research have been published in Disability & Society and the Journal of Public Transportation. Drs. Bitterman and Hess work with various public transit agencies across North America to develop responsible and effective public transit brands.

Dr. Bitterman recently completed a three-year research program funded by the National Endowment for the Arts to design and test a brand to identify universally designed spaces, places, products, and systems. Bitterman developed a statistical model to test the effectiveness of the innovative system, and has since presented the design and testing methodologies at the Vision Plus 12 meeting of the International Institute of Information Designers in Schwarzenberg, Austria and to other industry and government leaders around the world. Prior to joining the architecture faculty at RIT, Dr. Bitterman was a member of the faculty in RIT's College of Imaging Arts and Sciences, home to the world renowned School for American Crafts and Vignelli Center for Design Studies. Prior to coming to RIT, Bitterman was a research assistant professor at the School of Architecture & Planning at the University at Buffalo and Director for Information Design and Dissemination at the Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDEA). The IDEA Center is a multi-million dollar research center funded by the U.S. Department of Education focusing on developing public and industry awareness and academic pedagogy to underscore the many benefits of inclusive design.

Dr. Bitterman is the proud recipient of the prestigious Richard and Virginia Eisenhart Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching at RIT and the Buffalo State College President’s Award for Equity and Diversity in Teaching.

Dr. Bitterman has served on 15 institute committees at RIT and has been a member of the President’s Commission for Diversity and Pluralism, the RIT Architecture Program Study Group, Institute Curriculum Committee for Sustainability, Campus Aesthetics Committee and recently completed a term on the RIT President’s ad hoc Quarter-to-Semester Transition Study Group. Until 2011, he was also a member of the board of directors for St. John’s Grace Church in Buffalo, New York.

Bitterman earned his Ph.D. in American Studies at the University at Buffalo and his dissertation, Brandtopia, surveyed the phenomenon of place branding from 1975 until the present. Bitterman also earned a Masters in Architecture from University at Buffalo.

Over the past decade, Dr. Bitterman has made more than 30 conference presentations, and various media appearances including radio and television. Commentary and interviews with Prof. Bitterman have appeared in a number of newspapers, news weeklies, and online publications.

Dr. Bitterman resides in Buffalo, New York.