William J. Stanley, III, FAIA, NOMA

William "Bill" J. Stanley, III, FAIA, NOMA was the first black graduate of Georgia Tech's College of Architecture! Bill and his wife, Ivenue Love-Stanley, FAIA, NOMA have developed an award-winning architectural practice, which began in 1977. He is Principal for Design and Business Development while Ms. Love-Stanley is Managing Principal is responsible for programming, contract administration and production. Stanley, Love-Stanley, P.C. is one of the largest African-American design practices in the country concentrating in architecture, planning, program management and interior design throughout the U.S. and abroad.

Bill is a Fellow in the American Institute of Architects (FAIA), the President of AIA Georgia and the 1995 recipient of the Whitney M. Young, Jr. Citation given as one of the Institute's highest honors to the country's most socially conscious architect. For the years 2006 - 2009, he will represent the State of Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina as the South Atlantic Regional Director to the National Board of AIA. Bill was one of the founders of Georgia Tech's Dual Degree Engineering program with the Atlanta University Center (AUC) and taught in that program for seventeen years.

In 1999, AIA Georgia bestowed upon him the Bernard Rothschild medal - State's highest award. He also is the past National President of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA); past President of the 100 Black Men of Atlanta; Architectural Record Magazine's Advisory Board; Georgia Institute of Technology's National Advisory Board and its Alumni Association Board of Trustees; the National Board of Planned Parenthood Federation of America; Secretary of the Morris Brown College Board of Trustees; Southwest YMCA Board; St. Paul A.M.E. Church Trustee and Steward Boards; Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity Kappa Boulé; Chairman of the Herndon Foundation Board; Atlanta Life Financial group Board; and numerous other affiliations.

http://www.stanleylove-stanleypc.com/william.cfm

Rod Knox, Architect

Professor Knox received his Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Architecture degrees from The Cooper Union (1970, 1975) and his Masters of Architecture from Harvard University (1976). Professor Knox is a registered architect and has taught in the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture since 1977, as a Visiting Critic at City College (1980 to present), and was a visiting Professor at SUNY Purchase in 1982.

Professor Knox teaches ARCH 205 Advanced Concepts, ARCH 185 Crossings, and ARCH 190 Structures Elective, and has taught ARCH 151 Thesis Design Studio, ARCH 141 Fourth Year Design Studio, ARCH 131 Third Year Design Studio, ARCH 121 Second Year Design Studio, ARCH 111 Architectonics and ARCH 114 Freehand Drawing. His recent work includes: Proposal for Rebuilding WTC (2002); Moorish Influences in Gothic Architecture (2000); Vesica Pisces and the Pointed Arch (1999); Caravaggio (1998); UN-City: 600 Acre East River Project (1997).

http://www.rodknox.com/

Architecture Race Academe: MIT Conference

This conference-workshop will touch on a range of significant issues about race, ethnicity, blackness and professionalism, but with architectural academe as its central focus. The conference does not aim for a comprehensive overview on the subject, but rather hopes to ask how we can bring the issue more into the mainstream of architectural discussions. Understanding why and how the black architect is seen, especially through their educational and professional journey, from all vantages - student, client, designer, and critic - will allow us to appreciate what we have taken for granted and nurture what is unique. It will also allow us to discuss how to be more proactive in the face of this problem. The conference brings together a group of noted educators and practitioners as catalyst for the discussion, and is organized around the topics of "work," "education," and "profession."

March 16, 2007 5:30p–7:00p

http://architecture.mit.edu/ara/

Roberta Washington, FAIA

(l–r): Roberta Washington, Carlton Brown, and J. Max Bond

Washington is owner of the 10-person New York firm Roberta Washington Architects PC, which opened in 1983. It is the largest continuously operated female-owned, African-American architecture firm in the country. Washington is used to "firsts." She is the first American to work for the postindependence government of Mozambique, for example. And she and/or her firm have worked on countless major projects - from the Jazz and Negro Baseball Hall of Fame in Kansas City to renovating 50 abandoned townhouses and apartment buildings in Harlem to designing a new eight-story, 128-unit condo unit in Central Harlem to a new subway station in Brooklyn. Many of the firm's earliest projects were conceived for populations with special needs, including housing for adults with AIDS and a project to help unite former female prison inmates with their children.

Washington, who earned a bachelor's degree in architecture from Howard University and a master's in the same subject (with emphasis on hospital and health-facility design) from Columbia University, tries to live by the words of Calvin Coolidge: "Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not. The world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."

Harry G. Robinson, III, FAIA, AICP, NOMA

Harry G. Robinson, III is a design professional educated in architecture, city planning and urban design. His career in these disciplines spans practice/consultation, teaching, management/leadership and research/publication. Currently, he is Professor of Urban Design and Dean Emeritus and advisor to the president Howard University and principal of TRGConsulting, an international design firm.

During the period 1979-95 he served as Dean and Professor of Urban Design, School of Architecture and Planning, Howard University and subsequently, 1995-1999 served as interim Vice President of Academic Affairs and Vice President for University Administration, Howard University. Prior to the decanal appointment at Howard University in 1979, he was director of the Center for Built Environment Studies that he founded at Morgan State University. This set of programs – architecture, city planning, landscape architecture and urban design – established that university’s first professional interdisciplinary curricula.

He is a twice presidentially appointed Commissioner and elected Chairman, United States Commission of Fine Arts and was elected president of two national architectural organizations - National Architectural Accrediting Board, 1996, and National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, 1992. He chaired the UNESCO International Commission on the Goree Memorial and Museum that was established to guide the development of this project in Dakar, Senegal. He has served on major boards and commissions, including the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Committee for the Preservation of the White House, White House Historical Association and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Mr. Robinson is author of the award winning third history of Howard University, THE LONG WALK: The Placemaking Legacy of Howard University and producer of the TELLY recognized documentary by the same name.

He is the recipient of the Tau Sigma Delta Architectural Honor Society Silver Medal, elected membership in the American Institute of Architects' College of Fellows, honorary membership in the Colegio de Arquitectos de Mexico, Sociedad de Arquitectos Mexicanos and in the Trinidad and Tobago Institute of Architects. In 1999 he was awarded the Richard T. Ely Distinguished International Educator Award by the Lambda Alpha International Honorary Land Economics Society. In 1991, he had a partial Fulbright Fellowship at the Cooperbelt University, Kitwe, Zambia. Awards from the National Organization of Minority Architects include an honor award in 1991 and a special award in 1992. In 1993 Hampton University awarded him its 125th Anniversary Citation for Leadership In Architecture.

In 2003 he was awarded the highest honor bestowed by the Washington Chapter of the AIA, the Centennial Medal. In 2004 he was awarded the District of Columbia Council of Engineering and Architecture Societies Architect of the Year award.

During the period 1966-1968 he served in the Army of the United States that included a tour of duty in the Republic of Vietnam for which he was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals.

He holds professional degrees in architecture and city planning, B Arch with design honors, and MCP, Howard University, and an advanced degree in urban design, MCP in Urban Design, Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

http://www.howard.edu/newsroom/experts/HarryRobinson-Bio.htm

Charles F. McAfee, FAIA

Considered one of the most important African American architect in the United States, Charles McAfee of Wichita, Kansas, has used architecture to create opportunities for African Americans and make social commentary about racial inequality. Born in Los Angeles to Arthur and Willie Anna McAfee on December 25, 1932, McAfee received his B.S. from the University of Nebraska. Beginning his career in the early 1960s, McAfee has developed and sustained Charles F. McAfee Architects and Planners, with offices in Wichita, Atlanta, Dallas and Oklahoma City.

The diversity and breadth of McAfee's career distinguishes him in his field. Throughout his career, he has been affiliated with countless architectural and urban planning projects, many receiving national recognition. McAfee's projects range from institutional facilities (renovation of Oklahoma City School District 89) to transportation structures (Atlanta's North Line Midtown Station), religious structures (Wichita's Calvary Baptist Church) to recreational facilities (McAdams Park), in addition to housing and commercial facilities. The significance of a regional structure, like Kansas's first national black historical society, is as striking as McAfee's national projects. His firm's projects have included the design and construction of FAA/NADIN computer facilities as well as design consultation and construction management of facilities for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

In recognition of his distinguished career, McAfee has been the recipient of countless awards and distinctions, including the American Institute of Architects Kansas Chapter Excellence in Architecture Award and the Federal Housing Administration's First Honor Award. He serves on numerous professional and civic boards of directors, including the Catholic Social Services and the National Business League. McAfee has also served as the president of the National Organization of Minority Architects and Midwestern president of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.

McAfee maintains his commitment by providing mentorship to minority architects and planners, including his daughters, Cheryl McAfee-Mitchell and Charyl McAfee-Duncan, who run the family offices in Atlanta, Dallas and Oklahoma City. McAfee is married to Gloria Winston McAfee, a dedicated educator and community leader.

Roland A. Wiley, RAW International

Mr. Wiley, managing partner of RAW International, has over 24 years experience in project design, technical coordination, and construction management. As founder and managing partner of RAW International, Mr. Wiley’s responsibilities range from the strategic and economic planning of the firm to resolving design and construction problems. His demonstrated leadership and planning skills have sustained the firm’s continued growth and success for 20years. The firm has evolved into a creative problem solving team, successfully executing a diversity of projects ranging from transit planning to sanctuary design.

Mr. Wiley considers himself an urban visionary. His 24 years of experience have afforded him the opportunity to plan, design, and build urban projects ranging from a downtown high-rise commercial development to light rail and bus transit studies. In the process of his professional development Mr. Wiley has developed a passion for the sustainable revitalization of underserved urban communities. Projects under his direction include the Crenshaw Prairie Transit Corridor Major Investment Study which identified the significant potential for revitalization by using regional transit investment as a catalyst for the development of a community. In addition, Mr. Wiley performed a sustainable technologies analysis for the California Science Center, which evaluated the feasibility of cutting edge sustainable technologies including fuel cells, photo voltaic cells, and thermal energy storage systems.

Mr. Wiley's recent projects include the Crenshaw District Pedestrian Linkages Plan, and the Union Station Gateway East Portal in Los Angeles, CA. The Union Station Gateway East Portal Project entails an intermodal transit facility that shall be the hub of pedestrian and transit activity for the Metro Rail, Metro Link, Amtrak, and RTD bus system.

RAW International
http://www.rawinternational.com/profile_bios.htm

Harvey B. Gantt, Gantt Huberman Architects

Harvey Gantt was born in Charleston, South Carolina. He went to the public schools of that city and graduated from Burke High School second in his class. He moved to the Midwest on a merit scholarship, attending Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. from 1960-1962. In late 1961, he applied to Clemson University, and was admitted in January 1963 under court order and became the first black student to attend a previously all white school in South Carolina. He graduated from Clemson with honors and a Bachelor of Architecture Degree in 1965. He moved to Charlotte after graduation to join the firm of Odell and Associates. Five years later, in 1970, he received a Master of City Planning Degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In 1971, Gantt returned to Charlotte to open Gantt Huberman Architects, an architectural firm he co-founded with Jeff Huberman. The firm has grown over the years to become a sucessful, award-winning design organization.

Harvey Gantt is a member of the American Institute of Architects and the National, Organization of Minority Architects. The American Institute of Architects paid due recognition to Harvey Gantt in 1987 by making him a Fellow in the Institute. Gantt has served on the NC Board of Architecture, the AIA National Minority Services Committee, juror on numerous design awards programs and member of accreditation committees at Howard University and Southern University Schools of Architecture. Gantt has been a lecturer and visiting critic at colleges and universities nationwide, including Hampton, Yale, Cornell, UNC-Chapel Hill, Michigan, MIT, Mississippi State, Tuskegee, A&T, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, and others.

More recently, Harvey Gantt has devoted a substantial amount of time speaking to other architects nationally. His primary focus has been to make the case that the growing problems of the urban areas of our country demand a more activist role for architects in shaping public policy. He was chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission, appointed by President Bill Clinton, from the year 1995 to the year 2000.

Harvey Gantt himself has been an activist in the political arena since 1974. He served more than three terms on the Charlotte City Council in the late 70's. In 1981 he was made Mayor Pro-Tem. In 1983, he became Charlotte's first African-American Mayor and went on to serve two successive terms in this city of better than 400,000 persons.

Gantt's tenure in Charlotte politics was one of unprecedented growth and development. He placed a great deal of emphasis on planning, revitalization of the inner city, housing and managed growth.

In 1990 and 1996 Harvey Gantt ran for national office and challenged Jesse Helms in the North Carolina U.S. Senate race. While unsuccessful in winning the senate seat, he has won national acclaim and respect positions he took on education, health care, the environment, and his vision for improving quality of life for all citizens.

In his community, he has been active in his church, Friendship Missionary Baptist, where he is a member of the choir. He has been a member of numerous civic and cultural organizations in Charlotte and currently serves on the boards of Crisis Assistance Ministry, the Foundation for the Carolinas, Central Piedmont Community College Foundation, and Charlotte Center City Partners. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of NUCOR corporation.

Mr. Gantt's honors and awards are too numerous to list in their entirety. Suffice it to say he has received recognition from civic, cultural and service organizations - including the NAACP, Chamber of Commerce, The National Conference for Community & Justice and the American Civil Liberties Union. He holds honorary doctorate degrees from eight colleges and universities.

Devrouax & Purnell Architects

Architects Step Up to the Plate
Black-Owned Firm Is Part of Team to Design Baseball Stadium
By David Nakamura
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 1, 2005; Page DZ01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/31/AR2005083100975.html

In their fifth-floor office in the 700 block of D Street NW, architects Paul Devrouax and Marshall Purnell have small-scale models of some of their most influential work encased in glass. In one corner is a model of the Freddie Mac building in suburban Virginia; in another is a model of Pepco's headquarters in downtown Washington. Soon, the duo likely will make room for a new model -- of Washington's new baseball stadium.

Devrouax & Purnell Architects, the firm founded by the pair in 1978, is partnering with the sports division of Kansas City-based Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum Inc., known as HOK Sport, to design the ballpark that is scheduled to open in Southeast in 2008. HOK Sport has more than 300 employees and is internationally renowned for its stadiums and arenas. It is relying on Devrouax & Purnell, which has about 30 employees, to complement its expertise by providing an intimate knowledge of the city.

http://www.dp-architects.com/

The McKissack and McKissack architectural tradition

The McKissack and McKissack architectural tradition dates back to the first Moses McKissack (1790-1865) of the West African Ashanti tribe, who was sold into slavery to William McKissack of North Carolina and became a master builder. In 1822 he married Mirian (1804-1865), a Cherokee, and they had fourteen children. The ninth child, Gabriel Moses McKissack (1840-1922), continued in the building trade he learned from his father. Like his father, Gabriel Moses II taught the building skills to his son, Moses McKissack III (1879-1952).

Suggested Reading(s): Linda T. Wynn, "Leatrice B. McKissack," in Notable Black American Women, Book II, ed. Jessie Carney Smith (1996), 450-54 and "McKissack and McKissack Architects, 1905," in Profiles of African American in Tennessee, ed. Bobby L. Lovett and Linda T. Wynn (1996), 87-89.

The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture
http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/imagegallery.php?EntryID=M051

Norma Merrick Sklarek, FAIA

Norma Merrick Sklarek (April 15, 1928 - ) born in New York, New York. She is an African American architect where she earned B. Arch. from Barnard College (part of Columbia University). She was the first black woman to be licensed as an architect in the United States with certification in the state of New York in 1954 and then in the state of California in 1962. She was the first black woman to be elected Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1980. Another first, she was the first African-American director of architecture at Gruen and Associates in Los Angeles, CA and she also worked with the Jon Jerde Partnership.

In 1985, she became the first African-American woman architect to form her own architectural firm: Siegel, Sklarek, Diamond which was the largest woman-owned and mostly woman-staffed architectural firm in the United States. Among Sklarek's designs are the San Bernardino City Hall in San Bernardino, California, the Fox Plaza in San Francisco, Terminal One at the Los Angeles International Airport and the Embassy of the United States in Tokyo, Japan.[2]
Semi-retired today, she currently serves on the California Architects Board. She also formerly served for several years as Chair of the AIA National Ethics Council. In her honor, Howard University offers the Norma Merrick Sklarek Architectural Scholarship Award.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norma_Merrick_Sklarek

Michael E. Willis, FAIA, Michael Willis Architects

Michael Willis, the principal of Michael Willis Architects, with offices in San Francisco and Portland, Ore., has had the kind of success envied by architects of every race who have wanted to own and run a successful firm. His early high school, though, is echoed by many minority architects: “I wasn’t particularly outgoing but I loved drawing. My mother was a successful commercial artist. My first stumble in the road was in my high school.” Instead of architecture school, his counselor steered him towards trade school. Luckily, the senior counselor took him aside and said “if you want to go to architecture school, I’ll get you to the door. You’ll have to do the work yourself, but if that’s where you want to go, I’ll get you there.’”

After Washington University, Willis worked for Charles Fleming, a large black-owned firm in St. Louis, where he learned business development. Subsequent time teaching at Berkeley taught him the power of talent-driven small firms doing substantive work.

After time back in St. Louis, then again to San Francisco to start an office there for Fleming, Willis started his own firm in 1988. “Our design approach was to create a place where the solutions were,” he says. He was 37.

His firm’s breakthrough came, not surprisingly, through public work. What was surprising was the type: water purification facilities. The Sobrante Ozonation Facility, in El Sobrante, Calif., become the flagship for the district, enticing visitors from the water industry and the general public. Avoiding discussion of the size of his firm (four persons) or its longevity, he concentrated during the selection process on what people who work there need: light and air … a good place to work. That project led to two other water-purification projects, profitable work that earned the money it needed to buy computers, office space, and chairs. Being an expert in such a specialization has its advantages, Willis says. “There’s almost no bar to your being involved if you understand the technology,” he contends. “And because it’s not glamorous, it narrows the field.”

Willis approaches community development similarly. He talks to the public client about the way people live. What can you see from the window? How does light and air get into your building? What’s your relationship with the outside from your front door?

The King Center : J. Max Bond Jr.

Established in 1968 by Coretta Scott King, The King Center is the official, living memorial dedicated to the advancement of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., leader of America’s greatest nonviolent movement for justice, equality and peace.

More than 650,000 visitors from all over the world are drawn annually to the King Center to pay homage to Dr. King, view unique exhibits illustrating his life and teachings and visit the King Center’s Library, Archives, his final resting place, his birth home, gift shop and other facilities. Located in Atlanta’s Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site, The King Center utilizes diverse communications media, including books, audio and video cassettes, film, television, CDs and web pages, to reach out far beyond its physical boundaries to educate people all over the world about Dr. King’s life, work and his philosophy and methods of nonviolent conflict-reconciliation and social change.

J. Max Bond Jr., FAIA

J. Max Bond, Jr. is recognized internationally as one of the United States’ leading architects and educators. Mr. Bond won early recognition for the design of the Bolgatanga Library in Ghana, and has followed that with such projects as the Birmingham Civil Rights Museum, The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, and major research laboratories at Harvard, Columbia and Northwestern Universities. In addition to recognition for award-winning architecture, Mr. Bond has established a reputation as a designer who works closely with his clients and their local communities to understand their needs and project goals. His technical ability, wisdom and insight is a resource that serves our clients and staff.

Early in his career, Mr. Bond lived and worked in France and Ghana. Upon returning to the United States, Mr. Bond helped establish and became executive director of the Architects Renewal Committee of Harlem (ARCH), one of the early community design centers that developed during the late 1960s and early 1970s. After two years with ARCH, he cofounded Bond Ryder and Associates which quickly became one of the leading African-American architecture firms in New York and the East Coast. As a Commissioner of the New York City Planning commission from 1980–1986, Mr. Bond was actively involved in the city’s approvals and planning process. Mr. Bond merged his firm with Davis Brody & Associates in 1990 and has since served as Partner-in-Charge of many of the firms significant academic and institutional projects.

http://www.davisbrody.com/

University of Tennessee College of Architecture & Design Lecture on 10/30/2006

Richard K. Dozier

A former head of Tuskegee’s Department of Architecture, Dr. Dozier is particularly interested in African American architecture and historic preservation. He has conducted pioneering research on black architects and African American material culture and is a frequent exhibitor, lecturer, and consultant. He co-founded the country’s first statewide African American preservation organization, the Alabama Black Heritage Council, and he was selected by the U.S. Department of the Interior to survey threatened structures at twelve historically black colleges.

Dr. Dozier earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Yale University and his doctorate from the University of Michigan. He was a fellow at the Dubois Institute of Harvard University and has studied urban design and architectural conservation in Brazil, Italy, Senegal, and Ghana. He has taught at Morgan State University and at Yale.

Karl Thorne, FAIA

Born in Jamaica, Karl Thorne, FAIA, received a Bachelor of Architecture Degree from the University of Illinois in 1969 and a Master of Architecture degree form the University of Pennsylvania in 1970 where he studied under Louis Kahn. While a graduate student, he had a teaching fellowship and taught fourth year design.

At the University of Illinois Karl served as Treasurer (1967 & 1968) and President in 1969 of Gargoyle Society, the Architecture Honor Society. He was the recipient of the following awards: Small town development, Williamsville, Illinois, 1967 (First Prize, Third Year)
Bradley & Bradley Award, best project in fifth year, 1969
Edward L. Ryerson Traveling Fellowship to Europe, 1971

Karl’s early professional experience included two years in Jamaica as a draftsman with Wilson Chong, and Illinois Graduate, and two years in New York City with the office of Alfred Easton Poor, now Swanke Hayden Connell, until 1965. After completing graduate school in 1970, Karl moved to New Haven Connecticut, where he worked for the firms of Carlin, Pozzi & Associates, and Roth & Moore. In 1972, he went back to Jamaica as the Senior Architect / Planner of the Urban Development Corporation of Jamaica. He later reunited with Wilson Chong forming the Partnership of Wilson Chong, Karl Thorne & Associates, architects for the Post & Telegraph Headquarters of Jamaica. With the political upheaval in Jamaica, Karl returned to the US in 1977 where he worked for a year with Giller & Giller in Miami Beach.

Currently, Karl Thorne is a Professor of Architecture in the University of Florida’s School of Architecture where he has been on the faculty since 1978. He is also President of Karl Thorne Associates, Inc. Architects / Planners which he established in 1980. His diverse practice focuses primarily on educational architecture and includes the design of such projects as the George C. Kirkpatrick, Jr., Criminal Justice Training Center at Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, and the Frederick G. Humphries Science and Research Center at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee. His firm designed the new School of Journalism and Graphic Communication, and a museum addition to the historic Carnegie Library at Florida A&M University, both now under construction. When completed, this museum will house the largest collection of African-American artifacts and memorabilia in the southeast. The firm has been the recipient of numerous design awards. These include the 1988 Excellence in Architecture Award from the North Florida Chapter of the AIA for the PHEO Medical Center in Jacksonville Florida, the 1991 Excellence in Architecture Award from the National Organization of Minority Architects for the Coleman Library Addition and Renovation at Florida A&M University, and most recently a 2002 AIA Florida Unbuilt Design Award for The Conservancy: A Conservation Community Development. His work was exhibited in the 1993 Design Diaspora: Black Architects & International Architecture at the Chicago Athenaeum.



PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

National Organization of Minority Architects; National Treasurer, 1988 – 1990, South Region Vice-President, 1990 - 1992;

The American Institute of Architects; Florida North Chapter, Vice-President 1987; Florida North Chapter, President, 1988 ; Florida Association, Vice President, 1992-1994; Florida Association Design Jury Member for Excellence in Architecture Awards, Gulf Coast Chapter 1990; AIA Puerto Rico 1995; AIA Tampa Bay 1996; AIA National Committees: Minority Resources Committee, 1990-1994, President’s Task Force on Diversity, 1992 – 1993, NAAB Accreditation Team Member, 1991 – 1994

Jamaican Institute of Architects, Jury Chair for Governor General Awards, 1989, European Community, Caribbean Student Housing Competition Chair, 1990

Mr. Thorne served as a member of the Florida Building Commission from 1996-2004. This commission was established by the governor to create the first statewide Building Code which was implemented in 2001. He was Chairman of the Special Occupancy and the Code Administration Technical Advisory Committees. In 1998 he was the recipient of the Florida Association of the American Institute of Architects “Anthony Pullana Memorial Award for Distinguished Service to the Profession”. In 1998 he was also elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects.