Teddy Cruz is an American architect, urbanist, Professor in Architecture and Urbanism in the Visual Arts Department at the University of California, San Diego. Cruz studied at Rafael Landivar University in Guatemala City, Guatemala, but moved to the United States at the age of 20, continuing his education at California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, and the Harvard Graduate School of Design in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Cruz is the founder and president of Estudio Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman, a research-based political and architectural practice based in San Diego. This is built in partnership with University of California, San Diego political theorist, Fonna Forman. Cruz and Forman lead a variety of urban curatorial initiatives, including The Civic Innovation Lab in the City of San Diego to rethink public space and civic engagement; the UCSD Cross-Border Initiative to promote research and practice focused on regional territories of poverty; and the UCSD Community Stations, to foster corridors of knowledge exchange between the university and marginalized communities.