Pagers Elected As AIA Fellows

Page is proud to announce that two of its leaders on opposite U.S. coasts have been elevated to Fellows of the American Institute of Architects. Congratulations to James M. Wright, Page Senior Principal in our Washington DC office, and Page Principal Daniel R. Kenney in our San Francisco office! Their investiture will take place in April at the AIA Conference on Architecture 2017 in Orlando, where James is also presenting.

Both have demonstrated outstanding contributions to the industry that elevate the practice of architecture. James is currently serving as 2016-2017 President of the AIA International Region (IR), which has significant influence on the globalization of the architectural profession. Dan is the lead author of a seminal campus design book, initiated the Society of College and University Planners (SCUP) Chapman Prize for research on the impact of campus design on higher education, and served as first chair of the SCUP Advancement Committee.

Of course, neither would have achieved this pinnacle in their careers without clients who believed in their abilities and outstanding project teams that delivered their visions. Read on to learn more about why The College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects elevated James and Dan.

James M. Wright, FAIA

James Wright is an acknowledged leader of international practice by American architects, applying his extensive design and management experience to practice education and the creation, establishment, and ongoing leadership of the AIA International Region for the benefit of thousands of AIA members. Four elements of his career were considered during the selection process.

Practice Management and Design Leadership in the Global Arena
James has led the design and design management of over $5 billion of building construction and conducted innumerable planning and feasibility studies in over 40 countries spanning every continent except Antarctica. He has an unusually broad grasp of architectural practice through marketing, managing, designing and delivering exemplary architectural design services worldwide.

For example, James has been responsible for managing the design process for over 20 U.S. embassies, resulting in a defining influence in this evolving and unusually challenging building type. He encourages integrated project teams to balance design excellence in diplomatic facilities with practical considerations of cost, constructability and security. Their results have served thousands of U.S Foreign Service staff, local employees and facility users through architectural designs that minimize the risks of injury, death, and destruction from terrorist actions.

Practice Education Leadership in the U.S.
Through his ongoing efforts to develop continuing education material concerning international practice, James has been able to formally contribute to the AIA body of knowledge. His commitment to education within the industry has led to an active role in the AIA International Practice Committee Advisory Group practice workshops at the last four AIA national conventions, in addition to authorship of other learning unit-bearing seminars and contributions to the recently released AIA Global Practice Primer.

Practice Leadership Across Borders
Largely through the efforts of James and a few close AIA colleagues, the AIA International Region came into being as the Institute’s 19th region, serving more than 2,400 members. For the first time in Institute history, unassigned members working in foreign countries as well as members of the six international components (United Kingdom, Continental Europe, Hong Kong, Japan, Middle East, and Shanghai) have a centralized and collaborative entity through which to share practice knowledge and receive services. Thanks to their leadership, AIA’s international community has a focused and effective voice which continues to grow.

Mentoring a Generation of International Practitioners
Over the last 37 years, through international project relationships with associates and clients, countless young architects and engineers abroad have benefitted from James’s generous sharing of what he has learned. He introduced process-driven architectural programming to clients; was an effective early advocate for sustainable design in the oil-rich Middle East and has enlightened authorities, associate design firms, and clients in third-world countries without established building codes in matters relating to accessible design and basic life safety. The AIA has concluded James Wright is an effective ambassador of best global practices to the developing world.

Daniel R. Kenney, FAIA

Through his ideas, practice and writings, Dan Kenney has transformed the role of planning and urban design, both nationally and internationally, as a means of creating great university campuses and livable, sustainable cities. Five elements of his career were considered during the selection process.

Revitalizing Cities
Working with government and community leaders, Dan has created groundbreaking urban design strategies to shape successful urban places within cities, integrating physical, social, political, and economic forces. His strategic thinking and leadership in urban design have guided the transformation of city districts and urban waterfronts into new mixed-use neighborhoods that have revitalized downtowns and complex urban environments in more than forty cities worldwide, creating vibrant public places and open spaces.

Advancing Knowledge and Practice in Campus Planning and Design
In his forty-year career, Dan has advanced integrated planning that connects physical campus designs with student success, balancing academic and research needs with the institution’s financial resources. He has spearheaded the design of more than ninety-five community-enhancing campus plans that inspire learning and collaboration.

He is the lead author of the seminal book Mission and Place: Strengthening Learning and Community through Campus Design, published by the American Council on Education, the nonprofit organization of college and university presidents and other campus leaders. The book articulates the importance of planning, urban design, and architecture to higher education, and has been used as a graduate text in numerous universities, including the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Georgia, and Harvard University.

Integrating the Campus and the City
Applying his deep insight and experience with institutions and with cities, Dan has forged new win-win development frameworks to regenerate and strengthen both. His leadership on award-winning urban campus master plans creates vital, innovative places that improve the lives of the people using them, provide a resource for creativity and learning, promote urban revitalization, and build stronger campus-city connections. Dan is a founding member of the Urban Land Institute’s University Development and Innovation Council, which explores the role of higher education institutions in partnership with their host cities in urban revitalization and economic development.

Creating Innovation Communities
Dan pioneered the replacement of traditional university research parks—suburban districts with sprawling research campuses—with a more sustainable model integrated into the city, thereby stimulating economic growth and revitalization. In his innovative projects for North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad Research Park and Detroit’s TechTown District, Dan’s visions for twenty-first-century innovation communities foster diversity, collaboration, innovation, and creativity.

Fostering Community Engagement Using Advanced Software Tools
Dan’s distinctive planning process is both collaborative and data-driven. He participated in the development of customized software to inform the design process while enhancing community engagement through web-based, mobile-device-enabled, interactive data visualization and decision-support tools. Whether for a campus or a city, the tools capture how people engage with their environment in graphic and map-based formats. Dan’s teams also use them to work interactively with clients and their constituencies to make program and space decisions in real time.

Congratulations to both Pagers!