The American Institute of Architects has announced the election to the AIA College of Fellows of four architects nominated by AIA Seattle. Election to the College recognizes achievements of national significance in advancing the profession. Among 82 individuals advanced in 2006, the Jury of Fellows selected these four AIA Seattle nominees:

• Jan K. Gleason FAIA
• Rena M. Klein FAIA
• Steve McConnell FAIA
• Peter Steinbrueck FAIA

Friends and colleagues will join in celebration, along with local and national colleagues of these and other 2006 honorees from around the US and the world, at AIA Convention in Los Angeles June 8-10 – especially at the AIA Seattle Dinner on Friday evening June 9 – and back home at the AIA Seattle Honors Gala slated for Saturday evening June 24.

In the original presentation of the qualifications of these individuals to the AIA Seattle Board of Directors, the Fellows Nominating Committee offered these summaries of candidates' achievements to advance the profession:

Jan K. Gleason FAIA
Environmental Works, Seattle
Her decades of socially responsible practice have culminated in Jan Gleason's (BA Cornell 1970, MArch UW 1981) current role as Executive Director of Environmental Works, a Seattle-based community design center which since its establishment in 1970 has made quality design available to non-profit facilities. Her practice experience, professional reputation, and design acumen have advanced the importance of Environmental Works as one of the nation's best respected community design centers, and helped bring value and awareness to the profession's community service mission.
AIA Seattle 2005 Medallist David Hewitt FAIA sponsored the nomination, in the category recognizing achievement "to make the profession of ever-increasing service to society, in an alternative career."

Rena M. Klein FAIA
RM Klein Consulting, Seattle
With special generosity and unique skill, Rena Klein (BArch U of Oregon 1971, MS Management Antioch 1996) shares the knowledge of small-office practice with her colleagues in the Northwest and the nation. Her AIA membership tenure coincides with her transformative quest, involving practice management and later distance learning studies which have generated her consulting practice and an extensive range of teaching to both practicing architects and design students at the UW CAUP. Her seminars at AIA Convention and to various AIA Knowledge Communities, as at AIA Seattle, have drawn highly favorable responses and have assisted architects to achieve success in their practices. As President of AIA Seattle and as Chair of the 2005 Knowledge by Design Conference, she brings a unique inclusive perspective to the conduct of professional business.
Richard W. Hobbs FAIA sponsored the nomination, in the category recognizing architects who have "actively, efficiently, and cooperatively led the Institute."

Steve McConnell FAIA
NBBJ, Seattle
The design leadership of Steve McConnell (BA Arch SCI-Arc 1984) with NBBJ has helped create highly-acclaimed projects throughout the world, serving the corporate and public interests of a range of clients. Notable recent work includes Reebok World Headquarters at Boston and the United States Courthouse in Seattle, recognized by two awards in the 2005 GSA Excellence in Design program among other honors. His dynamic creations connect client aspirations with human experience through a unique discovery and design process. His diverse work linking design to organizational performance allows colleagues, clients, and the public to define the value of achitecture.
Scott Wyatt FAIA sponsored the nomination, in the category highlighting achievements to promote the aesthetic, scientific, and practical efficiency of the profession through design.

Peter Steinbrueck FAIA
Seattle City Council
Now in his third term on the Seattle City Council, Peter Steinbrueck (BA Government cum laude Bowdoin College 1979, MArch UW 1988) advances the "citizen architect" tradition exemplified by his father, the late Victor Steinbrueck FAIA. Nurtured from childhood in a culture of public engagement that included the campaign in the mid-1970s to save the Pike Place Market, as a Councilmember he has effectively applied his architectural training in the public realm. In the years since AIA recognized his special mission in presenting him with the 1999 Young Architect Award, Peter has steadily materialized the promise and hopes others place in his unique career in design leadership. As Seattle and its regional neighbors struggle with design issues – significant investments in a new City Hall and the Seattle Central Library, planning for the future of Seattle's central waterfront and other critical neighborhoods, solving the transportation mess – Peter has raised a clear and credible voice that elevates the importance of planning and design to create and sustain communities that work.

Rick Sundberg FAIA sponsored the nomination, in the category recognizing achievement to ensure the advancement of living standards of people through their improved environment, by work in government.

Additional references:
* roster of electees to the AIA College of Fellows from this area
* AIA advances 82 Fellows in 2006