The AIA has chosen five outstanding young architects, defined as professionals who have been practicing 10 years or fewer, regardless of their age, to receive its 2003 Young Architects Award. The award honors individuals who have shown exceptional leadership and made significant contributions to the profession early in their careers.

Lisa M. Chronister, AIA, is passionate about increasing public awareness of the value of architecture. Most recently, she devoted her time and talents to ensuring that one of Oklahoma’s most precious historic resources, the Gold Dome Bank near downtown Oklahoma City, was saved from demolition. She helped lead a coalition of advocates supporting preservation of the futuristic 1958 building and its distinctive gold geodesic dome roof. Chronister worked on all aspects of the campaign, particularly the public-relations piece of the protest, disseminating information to local and national press. As spokesperson for the group, she generated local press coverage and national attention by making television and radio appearances. The demolition permit was eventually denied, and the decision was upheld through the appeals process in July 2002, when a preservation-minded buyer rescued the property. The National Trust for Historic Preservation validated the group’s efforts by naming the bank one of its 2002 Eleven Most Endangered buildings in the U.S.

Chronister, a project manager/architect at LWPB Architects, Oklahoma City, has served on the AIA Oklahoma Board of Directors in virtually every leadership position during the last five years, culminating in her election to the presidency this year. She engages in many other chapter activities, such as the Disaster Assistance Team, the Food Bank Harvest Food Drive, and the 2001 Central States Regional Conference. Chronister shows equal dedication to her design career: Since her 1994 graduation from the University of Oklahoma, she has worked full-time as an intern, project architect, and project manager for several Oklahoma City firms. She was largely responsible for the design of projects that include the Individual Artists of Oklahoma Gallery renovation, Federal Corporation Showroom Remodel, and For Heaven’s Sake Child Development Center. She also served as project architect for the downtown YMCA Child Development Center, Department of Environmental Quality Office Renovation, and the Center for Design Arts.

Paul D. Mankins, AIA, contributes much to the profession through his roles of associate principal at Herbert Lewis Kruse Blunck Architecture (named the AIA 2001 Firm Award winner), AIA Iowa president, Iowa Architect editor, and adjunct professor of architectural design at Iowa State University’s Department of Architecture. His professional abilities earn him high levels of design recognition for projects ranging from the smallest hand-crafted interiors to complex urban planning efforts. Mankins, who currently leads the team developing and documenting the New Central Library for the City of Des Moines (with David Chipperfield Architects, London), recently received a 2002 National AIA Honor Award for Architecture for the Meredith Corporation Expansion and Interiors, Des Moines. Since 1994, he has also garnered 19 honor and merit awards from the AIA Central States Region, AIA San Francisco, and AIA Iowa. He has several other honors under his belt: Mankins is the youngest architecture alumnus to receive the Design Achievement Award from Iowa State University’s College of Design, and his work has been featured in many national and international design publications.

Mankins’ commitment to the profession continues well past the hours he spends at his award-winning firm. He served as president of AIA Iowa in 1999, twice chaired AIA Iowa’s Convention Committee, lobbied Congress on behalf of AIA Iowa, and hosted a fundraising reception at the Octagon for the restoration the Iowa’s governor’s residence. AIA Vice President and Associate Dean of Iowa State University’s College of Design Kate Schwennsen, FAIA, writes, “Paul’s design and leadership abilities transformed the Iowa Architect into a nationally recognized publication. Those same abilities, combined with wit and patience, make him a highly sought-after teacher in a nationally ranked accredited program.”

Mankins received his MArch from Yale University and continues to pursue a passion for education and research. He received a research grant from The Graham Foundation for Advance Studies in the Fine Arts to publish his book documenting independent formal analysis and historical research. He also organized a national exhibition of analytical drawings and models, “Giuseppe Terragni: Two Projects,” and a national design competition and exhibition, “Houses From the Eighties,” featured at the Des Moines Art Center and Archicenter in Chicago.

Paul Neuhaus, AIA, writes that he gains his highest sense of purpose as an architect from “collaborating on the design of a project that lights a fire in me, excites and inspires my client, and enriches the lives of those who come in contact with the building.” Neuhaus, now designer/project manager at The Leonard Parker Associates, Minneapolis, came to architecture from the visual arts and says he has always regarded the discipline as an art form. His conviction to use architecture to best benefit society began when he entered the Peace Corps after college, making his home for two years in a small community of subsistence farmers where he initiated projects that relied on his experience in art and design to improve their quality of life. Since returning to the U.S. and entering the field, first at Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle, Ltd., and now at TLPA, Neuhaus has focused on making a direct contribution to his community through his designs of public buildings, including libraries, a school, courthouse, a university dance studio, an art museum, a police station, and laboratories that benefit their neighborhoods by providing important civic, cultural, educational, or public-safety functions.

Peers and mentors recognize Neuhaus for his firm and quiet leadership and “ability to focus, remain calm under pressure, and achieve maximum impact.” He is active in AIA Minnesota as a member of the Awards and Publications Committees.

Ronald Todd Ray, AIA, principal of Studio27architecture pllc, Washington, D.C., began his practice in 1999, just three years after becoming registered. His firm, which is committed to achieving significant architectural design for any budget, has received eight local and state design awards, and its work has appeared in papers a dozen times. In addition to nurturing a flourishing architecture practice, Ray tends to a new generation of architects by serving as adjunct professor at The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., where he challenges his design studio students and encourages their development. He has also served as an adjunct professor at the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science, and as a visiting critic there and at Catholic, as well as at Syracuse University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Virginia.

Ray dedicates many weekends and evenings to the Washington Architectural Foundation Community Design Services, recently leading a team of architects and interns in an Emergency Design Charrette for the tornado-ravaged town of La Plata, Md. He also promotes architecture education through volunteer work at the National Building Museum and by talking to middle-school, high-school, and college classes about being an architect. In addition, he offers career guidance to intern architects moving to the Washington area. This year he formalized the activity by founding the AIADC Intern Mentoring Program.

Paul Woolford, AIA, senior vice president with HOK Architecture and HOK Board of Design Directors member, shows his passion for the community and profession through carefully crafted designs tailored to client needs and active participation in the AIA at the local, state, and national levels. Woolford is responsible for some of the largest and most complex buildings completed by his firm, including the Georgia State Archives in Morrow; University of Alabama’s 227,000-square-foot Interdisciplinary Science Building, Shelby Hall; and the South Bank Arts Centre Master Plan along the River Thames in London. His design for the 325,000-square-foot Whitehead Research Building for the School of Medicine at Emory University, Atlanta, won a Silver LEED rating, and his design for the San Francisco International Airport Bay Area Rapid Transit Station received a 1996 AIA Certificate of Merit Award.

Woolford works with both the national AIA component and AIA Georgia to enhance and enrich the profession. As the 2001 chair of the Young Architects Forum (YAF), Paul guided the coordination of the national “Point Break: Changing in the Context of the Profession” conference, which he cochaired. That event examined innovation and vision in the marketplace as well as capitalized on the profession’s values. Woolford serves as AIA Georgia’s vice president-elect for fellowship and chaired its 2002 design awards jury. He has taught at the Graduate College of Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, and he has lectured around the world, including at national and regional AIA conventions.

Copyright 2003 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved.