Renowned architect Professor Glenn Murcutt has become the first Australian to be included on the jury of architecture's most prestigious award, the Pritzker Prize.

Professor Murcutt, of the Faculty of Built Environment, was Pritzker Laureate in 2002, the only Australian to have won the prize. Frank Gehry and Renzo Piano are among the other distinguished winners.

Professor Murcutt now joins a panel of the world's leading architectural thinkers to judge the award often referred to as the Nobel Prize of architecture.

This year Professor Murcutt will continue to teach the third year design studio - a course which he said brings him into contact with students at a critical time.

"It's a stage in a student's career where it can be a turning point for the good or the bad," he said.

"Students know what architecture may well be about and I try to enliven that."

Dean of Built Environment Professor Alec Tzannes said Professor Murcutt's citations for the Pritzker Prize and the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal, awarded in 2009, had highlighted his contributions to architecture and the education of architects.

"Glenn Murcutt is one of our great design educators and one of our great architects," he said.

"His unique perspective contributes to the development of design thinking in architects in ways that have proven to endure and be valued for life."

Professor Tzannes said through Professor Murcutt's work as a Pritzker juror, students would gain exposure to "the knowledge and experience that comes from judging work at the forefront of contemporary architecture around the world'.

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