Education

Doctor of Philosophy, History of Architecture, 1992

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Dissertation title: "Two Case Studies of African-American Architects’

Careers in Los Angeles, 1890-1945: Paul R. Williams, FAIA and James

H. Garrott, AIA" Advisors: Dr. Dolores Hayden & Dr. Diane Favro

 

Honors

Dorothy Danforth Compton Fellowship, 1986-90

Chancellor’s Dissertation Year Fellowship, 1991

Master of Architecture, 1976

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Cambridge, Mass

Thesis title: "A Downtown Shopping Mall for Cambridge"

Bachelor of Science in Art and Design, 1974

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

    Major concentration: Architectural Design

    Minor Concentration: History of Architecture

 

Major Academic Employment

Florida A&M University, Tallahassee

January 2004 to May 2009 Rank: Visiting Assistant Professor
Courses taught: Three History of Architecture Survey Courses and Second Year Design Studio

Texas A&M University at College Station, College of Architecture

1997-98 rank: Visiting Assistant Professor

2000-to present time, rank: Visiting Assistant Professor

Courses taught: Second-year design studio.

University of Texas at Austin, 1993-97 and 1998-2000

School of Architecture; rank: Assistant Professor, tenure track.

Courses taught: First-year design, Second-year design, history of architecture survey III, history of 20th century American and vernacular architecture. Extra duties: Minority Affairs Liaison, Advisor to Master’s Thesis students.

 

Prairie View A&M University, 1983-86 and 1976-78

Courses taught: First-year design, Second-year design, fifth-year thesis design, architectural history survey, freshman graphics for Banneker Honors Program.

 

Experience in Practice

Professional Registration: Architect, State of Texas, since 1982

Owner: Wesley H. Henderson, AIA, Architectural Services

Begun in 1990 in Los Angeles, relocated to Austin in 1993.

Major projects: On design team with Page Southerland Page (PSP) Architects for new Austin Bergstrom International Airport, and Johnson State Office Bldg in Austin. I was coordinator of a minority student internship program with PSP. Also, I have designed my own home which was selected to be in the Austin AIA Tour of Homes on October 2-3 of 1999.

California Employment Experience

RAW Architecture - Los Angeles, CA - January to June, 1993

My duties for this 10 person firm centered on one project, the research for documents and their verification in the field on the landmark Los Angeles City Hall of 1926, in preparation for its renovation. I then assisted translation of as-built plans into CAD format.

Jeffrey Sulkin and Associates Architects - Santa Monica, CA

Summer of 1992 and part-time during 1993. This firm was a small 4 person one specializing in high-end residential, commercial, and institutional projects. My duties there included contract document production and building models.

Tumohr Construction Company - Inglewood, CA - Summer of 1991

My post there was an administrative assistant to the site foreman for a 180 unit, privately owned, housing for the elderly complex. My duties included logging material arrivals, receiving visitors such as inspectors and the project architect, and processing daily reports of Tumohr staff. This job enabled me to see how a large building is put together by a commercial construction crew.

Robert S. Moore, AIA, Architect - Inglewood, CA - Summers of 1988-89-90

My duties were chiefly contract document production. When unable to use me in the summer of 1991, this firm’s recommendation enabled me to obtain the post with Tumohr Construction.

Texas Employment Experience

Lloyd, Jones, Brewer Architects - Houston - 1981-83

My duties in this 80+ person firm were graphic design construction documents production and interiors construction documents and presentation drawings production.

3D/I Architects - Houston - 1983

My duties in this extremely large corporate firm were graphic design and construction document drawings.

Howard Barnstone, FAIA, Architect - Houston - 1981

Although a small firm, it was well-respected in Houston as a superb design office that had upscale clients. My duties were job captaincy of a residential project including contract document production, bid supervision, and construction administration.

Haywood Jordan McCowan - Houston - 1979-81

Architect-intern for an 8 person African-American firm whose clients were institutional, civic, and residential.

Morris + Aubrey (S. I. Morris Associates) - Houston - 1978-79

Architect-intern in a very large corporate architectural firm, producing construction documents and details.

Professional and Cultural Memberships

American Institute of Architects (AIA) - from 1983 to present

Active in Texas Society of Architects (TSA) from 1993 to present

Active in Austin Chapter from 1993 to present

Active in Los Angeles Chapter from 1986 to 1993

Active in Houston Chapter from 1983 to 1986

National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) - from 1984 to present

Active in Los Angeles Chapter from 1986 to 1993

Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) - from 1992 to present

National Trust for Historic Preservation - from 1993 to present

Lady Bird Johnson National Wildflower Research Center - 1998

Heritage Society of Austin - 1996 to present

Activities with Students/Visits to Universities

Prairie View A. & M. University in Prairie View, Texas near Houston

November 17, 1999; February 12, 1996; April 26, 1995; January 26, 1994;
Gave a slide lecture on Paul R. Williams, counseled students regarding recruitment to the University of Texas at Austin, participated in studio reviews.

 

Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana - Feb. 3, 1995 and May 9, 2000

Gave a slide lecture on Paul R. Williams, counseled students regarding recruitment to the University of Texas at Austin, participated in studio reviews.

 

Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana - November 11, 1994

Gave a slide lecture on Paul R. Williams, met with African-American students and participated in studio reviews.

University of Texas at Austin - Honors Colloquium - July 23, 1994

Gave a slide lecture on Paul R. Williams to bright and talented high school students from across Texas being recruited by the University.

Texas A. & M. University - March 30, 1994

Gave a lecture on Paul R. Williams, met with African-American students and participated in studio reviews.

University of Arkansas at Fayetteville - February 7, 1994

Gave a lecture on Paul R. Williams, met with African-American students and participated in studio reviews.

SHARE PROGRAM at University of Texas - Ongoing from 1993 to 1997

This program was administered by the Admissions Office of the University. Minority faculty served as mentors and welcomers to minority high school students being recruited by the University.

Exhibitions

Organized an exhibition for the Los Angeles Chapter of NOMA titled, "Architects, Achievers: Past, Present, and Future - African American Architects" at the Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw Plaza Mall - September 29 through October 13, 1991. There were 35 exhibitors.

Assisted in organizing an exhibition titled, "A Life in Architecture: Four Women in Los Angeles, 1900-1950" - March 1990 at UCLA. This activity was part of the course for the seminar "Women and Minority Architects in Southern California" - Dr. Diane Favro, instructor.

Publications

"Contradictions: An African-American View of Aggieland" in CITE: The Architecture and Design Review of Houston (#41 Spring 1998) Rice Design Alliance, Rice University - Houston, Texas

"Googie: American Popular Architecture in the 1950s and ‘60s" in Platform (Spring 1998) University of Texas at Austin, School of Architecture

"The Allure of the Vernacular" in Platform (Spring 1997)

"The Vernacular" in Platform (Spring 1996)

"Paul R. Williams" entry in the Dictionary of American Negro Biography (DANB) 1996, published by W. W. Norton

"Invisibility" in City: Issues of African-American Urban Space (Fall 1994, Issue 1, Volume 1, page 45) Christopher Smith, Senior Editor; Craig L. Wilkins, Associate Editor; Graphica Design Publications with Bakari Design: Los Angeles

"Lester O. Bankhead Oral History" 1992, "Harold L. Williams Oral History"1993

"Robert A. Kennard Oral History" 1994, "Norma Merrick Sklarek Oral History" and "John Williams Oral History" pending. University of California at Los Angeles - Oral History Program - Special Collections of the Library. These works are transcripts of interviews conducted with noted local African-American architects in Los Angeles.

Papers Presented

"Rosenwald YMCAs" at a symposium titled: The Rosenwald Schools: African-American Education and Jewish Philantrophy in the Jim Crow South at University of Texas, September 24, 1999

"Commemorating the Texas Centennial in Architecture: Case Studies --- Fair Park and the San Jacinto Museum of History" at the Texas State Historical Association Annual Meeting in Austin; March 5-7, 1998

"Paul R. Williams" at the NOMA National Convention at Chicago, October 1994

"Mentoring Among Architects in California, 1890-1930" at the ACSA Southwest Regional Meeting at Austin; October 29-30, 1993

For the ACSA Annual Meeting in Dallas, March 14-18, 1997, I served as a referee reader of several papers, and panel moderator for the presentation of 3 papers.

Areas of Interest and Reseach

Wolfsonian Research Center - Miami Beach, Florida

Three week Fellowship in 1998 of research on the topic of the image of African-Americans in World’s Fairs and in WPA posters.

Oral History of pre-1960 African-American architects.

Mentorship as a means of architectural education.

Vernacular Southern architecture, both domestic and commercial.

Art Deco period (1920 to 1950) architecture, especially in the South and West.

American popular architecture of the 1950s and 1960s, especially "Googie".

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