Thompson E. Penney, FAIA will be the 2002 AIA first vice president/president-elect and will serve in 2003 as Institute president. AIA delegates elected Penney during the Institute's national convention in Denver; election results were tallied May 16. Penney's term as first vice president begins in December 2001.

Penney, the 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. Under his leadership, LS3P 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 U.S.

Penney also has served on the national level with the AIM Advisory Group, AIA/AGC Joint National Committee, American Architectural Foundation's Board of Regents, and as chair of the National Honors for Collaborative and Professional Achievement Awards. He also was elected president of both AIA/South Carolina and 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," Penney declared. "The Institute should ensure that we, as architects, not only survive, but thrive during this period of change and opportunity."

In addition to his active role within the Institute, Penney has given much of his time to his alma mater, Clemson University, He served two terms as president of the Clemson Advancement Foundations for Design + Planning, as was selected to serve on the Commission of the Future of Clemson University. He has been awarded the university's Dean's Award and Distinguished Service Award. Penney, his wife Gretchen McKellar Penney, and their children make their home in Charleston.

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