Cruz has received the Robert Taylor Teaching Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture and the 2004–05 James Stirling Memorial Lecture on the City Prize, among other awards. Cruz serves on the board of directors of the Council of Design Professionals in San Diego, is a member of the international editorial board of AD Magazine, and is involved in many civic and cultural advocacy groups. Cruz holds degrees from Landivar University in Guatemala City, California State Polytechnic University, and Harvard Graduate School of Design. He was a Rome Prize Fellow in architecture, and has taught and lectured at many universities in Latin America, Europe, and the United States including Southern California Institute of Architecture and at Woodbury University School of Architecture in San Diego.