For First Vice President/President-Elect

Thompson E. Penney, FAIA

The senior director from the South Atlantic Region is the president and CEO of LS3P Associates Ltd., a 185-person architecture, land planning, and interior architecture firm, with offices in Charleston, S.C., and Charlotte, N.C.

Thom received both his undergraduate (1972 with honors) and MArch (1974) degrees from Clemson University. Elevated to the College of Fellows (for Design) in 1990, he has received state, regional, and national awards for design excellence. His work has been featured in national and international periodicals and books.

LS3P, under his leadership, has grown to become a regional firm recognized by Engineering News-Record as one of the fastest rising of the top 500 design firms in the United States.

Thom has served the AIA at all component levels, including:
• AIA National Board, South Atlantic Regional Director
• Member, AIM Advisory Group
• Member, AIA/AGC Joint National Committee
• Board of Regents, American Architectural Foundation
• Chair, National Honors for Collaborative and Professional Achievement Awards Jury
• President, AIA/South Carolina
• President, AIA/Charleston.

Over the past 144 years, the AIA has helped architecture emerge from a fledgling trade to a highly respected profession. We are now faced with a rapidly changing world—a world in which our profession is continuing to evolve. The Institute should ensure that we, as architects, not only survive, but thrive during this period of change and opportunity.
• I believe that Architects, as visionaries and leaders, can create the future of their profession just as they create the future of the built environment—through vision, passion, and hard work.
• I believe in the power of Trust and Value—two key ingredients in the leadership of any volunteer association.
• I believe that leadership is as much about following as it is about leading, and as much about listening as it is about talking.
• I imagine seamless connections between practice and the academy, resulting in a profession where we are not our own worst enemy.
• I imagine a market where Design really does matter, and the AIA provides compelling information to support what we all know in our hearts.
• I imagine a profession of innovation where reward is commensurate with the risk and the esteem.
• I believe that if we can imagine it, we can make it happen.

If we focus on the basics and channel our vision, passion, and dedication through the resources and leadership of the AIA at all component levels, we will create true value for our members. We deserve nothing less!

Copyright 2001 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved.