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February 25, 2015

Five Alums Honored with FAIA Designation

Five graduates of the Syracuse University School of Architecture, including three members of the Syracuse Architecture Advisory Board, have been named FAIA Fellows for 2015.

The Jury of Fellows from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) annually elevates select AIA members to its prestigious College of Fellows, an honor awarded to members who have made significant contributions to the profession. The Syracuse Architecture alumni/ae are Patrick Ahearn ’72, Scott Erdy ’90, Margaret Griffin ’86, David Rockwell ’79, and Keat Tan ’81. The fellowship program was developed to recognize those architects who have made a significant contribution to architecture and society and who have achieved a standard of excellence in the profession.

“These accomplished architects are being recognized not only for their individual achievements, which are impressive, but also for their significant contributions to the discipline and society on a national level,” said Dean Michael Speaks. 

Patrick Ahearn, AIA, is founding principal of Patrick Ahearn Architect, which specializes in historically motivated architecture and interior design. His volume of finely crafted residential work spans a multitude of classic styles from City Town Houses to Island Homes. With offices in both the historic Back Bay neighborhood of Boston and on Martha’s Vineyard, these environments provide a rich and fertile background for the creation of classical timeless architecture, appropriate and in scale to each locale. A Syracuse Architecture advisory board member, in 2009, Ahearn established the Patrick J. Ahearn Endowed Scholarship to provide increased scholarship and financial aid assistance to undergraduates enrolled at the School, as well as a Special Initiatives Fund supporting the dean and efforts to raise the School’s profile in 2014.

Scott Erdy is a founding partner and lead designer at Erdy McHenry Architecture. His work has received numerous awards and has been recognized nationally in architectural publications, gallery exhibits, and the national press and recognized by clients and colleagues alike for its response to functional requirements in a way that would not have been considered in the early project stages. Erdy teaches at the University of Pennsylvania. His honors include the AIA Philadelphia Gold Medal in 2001 for the Southern Poverty Law Center and the AIA Philadelphia Silver Medal in 2004 for Northern Liberties Housing.

Margaret Griffin is a co-founder and principal of the Los Angeles-based, Griffin Enright Architects, a collaborative practice that yields creative, forward-thinking designs. Their work combines innovation and experimentation with a desire to explore cultural complexities relative to the built environment. Griffin is a member of the Syracuse University advisory board and has taught at Syracuse University, USC, and UCLA. Griffin is currently on the faculty at SCI-Arc. Griffin Enright Architects’ work has been extensively published locally, nationally and internationally, and has received dozens of awards for design excellence including, local, state and national AIA Awards and The American Architecture Award from the Chicago Athenaeum.

David Rockwell founded Rockwell Group in 1984, a 250-person award winning, architecture and design practice based in New York City with offices in Madrid and Shanghai. Projects include restaurants, hotels, airport terminals, museum exhibitions, and Broadway sets. Rockwell’s honors include the 2008 National Design Award by the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum for outstanding achievement in Interior Design; the 2009 Pratt Legends Award; the Presidential Design Award for his renovation of the Grand Central Terminal; three Tony Award nominations for Best Scenic Design; and four Drama Desk Award nominations for Outstanding Scenic Design of a Musical. Rockwell is the Chair Emeritus of the Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS (DIFFA) and on the board of the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum and is a member of the Syracuse Architecture Advisory Board.

Keat Tan is a principal and director of design at gkkworks, a division of klipp, with offices in California, Colorado, and India. Tan brings a unique, international perspective to the firm. He has worked with Michael Graves and Associates in Princeton, The Hillier Group in NYC, and Hsin Yieh Architects in Hong Kong. Since 2001, Tan has guided the design of many of the firm’s most notable projects. He is a board member of the Denver Chapter of the AIA and the Asian Education Advisor Council/Denver Public Schools.

Architects with at least 10 years of membership in the AIA are eligible and are nominated in one or more of the following categories: promoted the aesthetic, scientific, and practical efficiency of the profession;  advanced the science and art of planning and building by advancing the standards of architectural education, training and practice; coordinated the building industry and the profession of architecture through leadership in the AIA or other related professional organizations; advanced the living standards of people through an improved environment; made the profession of ever-increasing service to society. The 2015 Fellows will be honored at an investiture ceremony in May at the 2015 National AIA Convention and Design Exposition in Atlanta.