A festive mood infused the College of Fellows’ annual Convocation dinner on Saturday, May 21 in Las Vegas. New fellows and honorary fellows still reveled from Friday’s investiture ceremony, seasoned fellows enjoyed welcoming the inductees into the fold, the $100,000 Latrobe Fellowship was announced and well-received at Friday morning’s plenary session, and the black-tie affair signaled the close of another successful convention. However, one last order of business remained for the fellows—a pleasant job by anyone’s account. That evening, Falls Church, Va., architect Paul H. Barkley, FAIA, received the sixth annual Leslie N. Boney Spirit of Fellowship Award.

Created in 2000 and named after its first recipient, the Leslie N. Boney Spirit of Fellowship Award honors an individual who exhibits outstanding service and commitment to the College of Fellows (COF). According to 2005 Chancellor of the College, Larry Leis, FAIA, the COF selected Barkley for this honor for his work as chair of the COF Regional Representatives, a program established to provide a personal link between the COF and its members. The program’s goals include: promoting social and professional fellowship, promoting interest in the College and participation in its activities, encouraging sponsorship of deserving fellowship candidates, encouraging support of the COF Fund and the Latrobe Fellowship, seeking out leaders for the COF, and recommending and critiquing COF projects.

In search of leadership
When the COF executive committee asked Barkley to take over the regional representatives program three years ago, it was leaderless and on the verge of foundering, said Leis. There was no clear connection or line of communication between fellows in the field and those serving the AIA board, components, and the COF executive committee.

“The ExCom determined that the program needed leadership,” said Leis. “We needed to define what’s expected of fellows and how to recruit new fellows. We needed a way to communicate to fellows the need to stay involved. Fellows have so much to give and we want them to be engaged—particularly in helping young architects. We needed a way to keep the message alive after Investiture that fellowship is not the end of achievement, but the beginning of true service to the profession.”

Nine years prior, as a member of the Virginia region of the COF, Barkley created a local newsletter called Fellowscope to keep fellows informed about events, recognize accomplishments, and encourage recruitment of new fellows. Upon becoming chair, Barkley set as his first task creating a national newsletter for the regional representatives. National Fellowscope now goes to regional representatives via e-mail each month. A forum to exchange news, support COF endeavors, encourage mentoring, honor feats, and provide feedback and recommendations for appointments to the jury of fellows and potential candidates, National Fellowscope will soon be expanded to reach all members of the College.

In addition to creating the only national newsletter for and about fellowship, Barkley also works closely with the regional representatives to ensure that new fellows receive recognition in their local chapter and region, solicit officer nominations from a wide swath of members, share expertise and promote mentoring through seminars and lectures, and encourage and laud service to the community and profession. Another unofficial role Barkley plays is setting the record straight on the jury of fellows’ selection process.

“I hear a lot of issues about the jury of fellows,” said Barkley. “People think that it’s biased toward region or category of nomination. To counter this notion, we send out a fellows “exit poll,” a matrix showing where jurors come from, regions with the greatest increase in fellows, regions that had no members elevated, cities with the largest number of fellows, etc. I’ve been on a number of juries, and from my experience, the jury of fellows is one of the most honest, straightforward procedures there is.”

A lifetime of service
Apart from his service to the COF, Barkley served as a regional director on the AIA Board from 1986-1989. During that time he chaired the membership group and participated on the women in architecture committee, scholarship committee, environmental education committee, and the membership services commission. As a Virginia Society of the AIA officer, he developed a leadership orientation program, directed efforts to conduct exhibitor-sponsored annual meetings, and established Virginia Record magazine.

Among the professional awards bestowed on Barkley are the Distinguished Service Award from the Virginia Society of the AIA in 1983, the AIA Northern Virginia chapter’s Outstanding Service to the Profession of Architecture Award in 1982, and the chapter’s Outstanding Achievement Award in 1988. Barkley’s civic awards include the Pillar of the Community Award from the Greater Falls Church Chamber of Commerce in 1987, the 1982 Industrial Development Volunteer of the Year Award, and the Business Person of the Year Award from the City of Falls Church in 1989.

Completely in the dark about his selection as the Spirit of Fellowship Award recipient until the Convocation dinner, Barkley said, “I was very honored and very surprised. I didn’t need an award or honor for doing something that I love. I’ve been very fortunate in my life. I opened my own office at 27 years old and was in practice for 40 years. In fact, I still have a paper from 9th grade that begins, ‘Ever since I can remember I’ve wanted to be an architect.’ Now I feel the need to give back to the profession that has been so kind to me. I don’t feel like I did anything that good, but receiving an award like this inspires me to work harder.”

—Heather Livingston

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