John Russell Groves, AIA, was killed September 27 in the crash of a small aircraft at an airfield in Bardstown, Ky. Known as “Russ,” Groves was well loved and respected within the architecture community. He received AIA Kentucky’s Distinguished Service Award last year.

AIA Kentucky Executive Vice President Janet Pike, Hon. AIA, recalls Groves as a “gifted and gracious gentleman who offered his many, many talents as an architect, attorney, educator, and military officer to advancing the professional education and practice of Kentucky architects.” Groves was an associate professor of architecture at the University of Kentucky and the Archives Fellow at the CRS Center at Texas A&M University. The emphasis of his research was on the meaning of leadership in architecture.

Groves was a major general in the U.S. Army and, in 2001, completed a six-year term as Adjutant General of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, during which his duties included command, oversight, and supervisory responsibility for the approximately 8,000 members of the Kentucky Army and Air National Guard as well as the state’s Division of Emergency Management. Last year, he spoke with AIArchitect about the importance of teaching codes through work in the design studio.

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