Class Acts

Jeff Potter ‘78, is focusing on making the AIA more meaningful to emerging members of the profession and advancing the value of design during his one-year tenure as president of the 76,000-member American Institute of Architects.

James R. Thompson ’68, an outstanding alumnus of Texas A&M’s College of Architecture, shares a journey of discovery in the current issue of Texas Aggie magazine that began when he bought an Aggie Ring at a Waco auction house in 2008.

Philip Berke ‘81, an outstanding alumnus of Texas A&M’s College of Architecture and one of the nation’s top land use planning scholars, presented “Sustainable Cities: Demographic Trends, Impacts and Future Plans” on Jan. 20 in the Wright Gallery.

Two former Texas A&M landscape architecture students, Elizabeth Chapman ’10 and Trace Unruh ’11, helped develop the city of Austin’s new invasive species management plan while working as interns at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center .

Michael Percifield ‘93, a former environmental design student, is leading an effort to put a 19th century steam locomotive back in service in North Texas. He oversees operations for the Grapevine Vintage Railroad, which operates train rides in vintage passenger cars from Grapevine to the Fort Worth Stockyards.

Nominations for the 2012 College of Architecture Outstanding Alumni Awards, which annually recognize former students of exceptional accomplishment, are being accepted through Feb. 10. Since its inception in 1997, less than one percent of the college’s former students have received the award, the college’s highest honor.

Raymond Gomez ‘64, an outstanding alumnus of Texas A&M’s College of Architecture, won first-place honors for his painting “Night City.” Gomez’ piece was chosen as the best work in a New York art guild’s “Home Away From Home” exhibit, on display at the Manhasset Public Library through March 29, 2012.

Former students are invited to submit items to the Class Acts section of the archone newsletter. Class Acts highlights the professional and personal achievements of former students and friends of the college. It's a great way to keep in touch with your old classmates. See the "Submit News" link in the newsletter's "featured" section or email news to prollfing@arch.tamu.edu.

Gene Summers FAIA, who left his design imprint on some of the world’s most recognizable Modern landmarks, a protégé of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and an outstanding alumnus of Texas A&M’s College of Architecture, died Dec. 12 in a California hospital from liver cancer.

Barry Mosesman, president of Montecito, Calif.-based HFP Architects, died Dec. 7, 2011. Mosesman, who earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1966 and a Master of Architecture degree in 1967, led more than 200 of the firm’s award-winning healthcare planning and design projects.

Texas A&M University President R. Bowen Loftin had a chance to see how former students are redefining the entertainment industry during a Nov. 16 visit to the Bay Area campuses of Pixar Animation Studios and DreamWorks Animation SKG.

Shelley Potter ’78, a Texas A&M’s College of Architecture Outstanding Alumna, received the 2011 Women’s Legacy Award from the Texas A&M Women Former Students’ Network at a Nov. 4 luncheon. A past chairwoman of The Association of Former Students, she is president of POTTER, a Dallas design firm.

It’s been a notable fall 2011 for Texas A&M environmental design graduate Russell Buchanan ‘93, whose Modern house design is making waves in an upscale Highland Park neighborhood while his furniture designs were featured in a retrospective at one of the most respected galleries in the U.S.

Chris Grossnicklaus ‘06, a Texas A&M Master of Architecture graduate is editor-in-chief of Columns magazine, the quarterly publication of the American Institute of Architects’ Dallas Chapter. Grossnicklaus is currently working as an architect for RTKL's Healthcare group.

The renovation of Texas A&M’s historic YMCA building, overseen by Nancy McCoy ’81, FAIA, an outstanding alumna of the College of Architecture, is mostly complete. McCoy, a founding principal at Quimby McCoy Preservation Architecture, LLP, is an award-winning preservation architect.