Elizabeth Whittaker is an Associate Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, specializing in architecture and design. She teaches Core Architecture Studios and was the Lead Faculty for the Architecture Design Discovery Summer Program from 2011 to 2015. As the founder and principal of MERGE architects, established in Boston in 2003, she focuses on contemporary craft and transforms typologies while addressing social ecologies. Her practice operates on multiple scales, including commercial, institutional, retail, private residential, multi-family housing, and graphic furniture design. The work at MERGE emphasizes digital fabrication combined with handcrafted approaches, encouraging a cross-disciplinary production process. Her work has been widely published and has received numerous accolades, including twenty-eight AIA/BSA awards. Whittaker is also the recipient of prestigious awards such as the AIA Young Architects Award and Architectural Record’s Design Vanguard. Actively involved in architectural discourse, she serves on the Industry Advisory Group for the U.S. Department of State and regularly critiques at esteemed institutions like Columbia University and Yale University.