Summary: Please join us in welcoming seven very special people—an author, a congressman, two component directors, a code official, an engineer, and a patron of the arts—into the AIA family. Despite disparate roles, they all are people who, although not architects by profession, have offered distinguished service to the profession of architecture or the allied arts and sciences and thus have made all of our lives richer. One of the most important messages we share is our gratitude toward those who support and uplift architects and architecture; in this spirit, the Institute is very pleased to bestow on these seven individuals the title of Honorary AIA.

Catherine Ward Bishir, Hon. AIA
Over three decades, Catherine Bishir has achieved national prominence in the field of historic preservation. As a scholar, she has authored a dozen books and numerous articles for national publications. While the focus of her work is the architecture of her adopted state of North Carolina and the region, the issues have national importance in the study of the built environment and preservation. Architects and Builders of North Carolina and Architecture of North Carolina are two of her acclaimed works. Also an activist and organizer, Bishir is the co-founder of Vernacular Architectural Forum, through which she challenged historians to look beyond architecture as isolated examples of high art to see the simple beauty and efficiency of the less grandly built world as well as broad patterns of development. In addition, she has widely promoted the study and preservation of the architecture of the recent past well before it became a popular notion.

The Honorable Earl Blumenauer, Hon. AIA
Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1996, remains a staunch advocate of the architecture profession. He is committed to promoting livable communities at the federal, state, and local levels and has proven himself a champion for many of the values that the AIA espouses, including protection of the natural environment. Since he served as a state representative and Portland’s commissioner of public works, he has demonstrated this commitment: He has been a tireless defender of his state’s natural treasures, including Mount Hood. On Capitol Hill, Blumenauer promotes many issues near and dear to architects’ hearts; a recent example is the Buildings for the 21st Century Act (H.R. 539), which would extend and expand the Energy Efficient Commercial Buildings Tax Deduction. Blumenauer has supported the AIA’s Grassroots national leadership conference legislative efforts for years and has championed architects’ visits to congressional representatives, many for the first time. He was instrumental in securing a congressional resolution honoring the contributions of the architectural profession during AIA150’s National Architecture Week, for which President Bush subsequently issued a proclamation.

Mary Fitch, Hon. AIA
As executive director of the Washington Chapter of the AIA and the nonprofit Washington Architectural Foundation for the past decade, Mary Fitch has served the profession and the Institute as she has strengthened the chapter, grown its foundation, and provided value to members and the community of the District of Columbia. Among her myriad accomplishments, she is the creator and founder of ArchitectureDC, the chapter’s award-winning free quarterly magazine for the public on new architecture design by chapter members. In 1999, she founded the chapter’s Architecture Week celebration that focuses the public’s attention on architecture by bringing together chapter public events that previously had been scattered throughout the year. Fitch also serves as manager for the annual Design DC trade show, which she helped to create and which has enhanced the chapter’s services for architects by providing a convenient forum for chapter members to earn CES credits and meet local building suppliers. Fitch also works for the foundation, managing its programs, raising funds, and spearheading design and construction of a garden memorial for four people who had perished in the September 11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon.

Henry L. Green, Hon. AIA
As executive director of the Bureau of Construction Codes for the State of Michigan, Henry Green has been a skillful consensus builder in the building codes and standards arena and a perpetual advocate for bringing architects into leadership roles in ways that extend far beyond the borders of the Wolverine State. Green’s activities associated with the various sciences allied with architecture always have included his personal penchant for involving architects in the process. In 2007, he chaired the Building Seismic Safety Council of the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS). He has also served as the president of the International Codes Council, chair of the NIBS board of directors, and president of the Building Officials and Code Administrators International, a forerunner of the International Code Council. Beginning as a building inspector, in his 25 years of bettering the built environment, Green has earned many honors. Among these are a member award for outstanding service from NIBS last year and recognition by the U.S. House of Representatives for his significant contributions to public safety and awareness.

Tony McLaughlin, Hon. AIA
Tony McLaughlin is a technical director of the Buro Happold, in Bath, England, one of the world’s most innovative and respected multi-disciplinary engineering firms. He currently chairs the Building Services Discipline Development Group (BS DDG) within Buro Happold, whose role is to ensure that the firm’s culture, technical standards, and skills base are maintained and encouraged throughout the firm. During his 35 years of practice, McLaughlin has engineered national and international projects that include the 2012 London Olympic Stadium, working with HOK; Millennium Dome, London, with Richard Rogers Partnership (for which McLaughlin received the 1999 Royal Academy of Engineering MacRobert Award); Genzyme Headquarters, Cambridge, Mass., with Behnisch, Behnisch and Partners; the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Abu Dhabi, with Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates; Al Faisaliah, Riyadh, with Foster and Partners; and Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, with Renzo Piano. Among his myriad honors, he has been invited to a reception at 10 Downing Street, at the behest of the prime minister, to promote excellence in public sector buildings and has served as an invited guest speaker at the annual Designing Tall Buildings conference.

Carol Pedigo, Hon. AIA
Carol Pedigo has served AIA Middle Tennessee as their executive director since 1994. She has been a passionate advocate for young architects, lobbying for their full participation in AIA national events and helping to build the AIA Middle Tennessee Young Architects Forum into a national model for success. She has implemented and organized an annual scholarship award to the University of Tennessee, awarding more than $30,000 in cash awards over the past decade to students in their fourth year of design. Pedigo is a founding board member of Rebuilding Together Nashville, a national nonprofit organization that rehabilitates, free of charge, homes for low-income homeowners, particularly the elderly and those with disabilities, and has served that organization in every leadership role. Pedigo has served on the national Community Committee and the CACE Executive Committee, hosted the CACE Annual Meeting in Nashville, and continues to serve CACE in the position as vice president. Pedigo demonstrated her ability to give back to the community in the late 1990s, when a severe tornado devastated downtown Nashville. Pedigo was instrumental in organizing a Regional Urban Design Assistance Team and received an AIA Presidential Citation for her service.

Evelyn “Deedie” Potter Rose, Hon. AIA
For decades, Deedie Potter Rose has been an exemplary patron of the arts and architecture and of immense service to the profession, particularly through her role in the Dallas Arts District, home to buildings by four separate Pritzker Prize winners in as many blocks. Rose played a seminal role in the creation of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts, a multi-venue center for music, opera, theatre, and dance, which anchors the district’s northern end and is set to open in 2009. Most recently, she led the effort to ensure that the design of the center will be distinguished in every respect, thereby advancing the architecture excellence that has become the hallmark of the district. The Roses have donated more than 800 objects valued at $215 million to the Dallas Museum of Art, which defines the district’s southern edge. This unprecedented philanthropic gesture further brightens the Dallas Museum of Art’s future by elevating its encyclopedic collection, further establishing Dallas as a center for the study and enjoyment of contemporary art. The Texas Society of Architects awarded Rose its 2006 Cornerstone Award, their highest public recognition, in honor of her commitment to the arts and architecture.