Joyce Noe joined the faculty of the UH Mānoa School of Architecture as an associate professor in 1982, earning tenure in 1986.  In late 1997, she took a break from teaching to study at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, receiving a master’s in design studies (with distinction) the following year.

Prof. Noe taught undergraduate and graduate levels of design studio and architecture practice courses.  Her teaching, research, and practice interests focused on architecture practice and education integration, which included organizing opportunities for students and practicing architects to collaboratively explore issues. Prof. Noe nurtured and mentored students into competent and ethical practicing architects long after students graduated, working towards licensure and pursuit of their professional careers.  Her goal was “to help students and young architects understand their responsibilities as an architect, the commitment to public welfare and safety they must aspire to, and the support they receive via NCARB’s rules and regulations to achieve these goals.”  She contributed to the establishment of the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), which accredits the UHM DArch program.

She served as Associate Dean and Graduate Chair from 2001 to 2007.  She served on the Hawaiʻi Board of Professional Engineers, Architects, Surveyors, and Landscape Architects. She won numerous awards while at UHM, including the NCARB Prize Honor Award (2001), an AIAS National Special Accomplishment Award (2001), and the AIA Pacific Northwest Case Study Honor Award (2005). Professor Noe retired as an Associate Professor in 2019 with 38 years of service.

Before joining the UH faculty she was a licensed architect and founder of Noe & Noe Architects. Her firm later transitioned to a consultant practice. In 1971, she became a member of AIA; she was elected a Fellow of AIA (FAIA) in 2006.

Joyce graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1958. She studied Electrical Engineering at UHM for two years, transferring to the University of Illinois at Urbana, where she studied and graduated with an Architectural Engineering degree.  Following an additional year at Urbana, she earned a BArch in 1965.

Palapala hoʻālohaloha