Design, planning consultant headed 2017 Rowlett Lecture

Betsy del Monte, founding principal of [Transform Global] (http://www.transform-global.org/projects.html) , a Dallas-based consultancy that seeks to transform the built environment through planning, sustainability and educational projects, headlined the 2017 Rowlett Lecture Series,  March 29, 2017 in the Bethancourt Ballroom of the Texas A&M [Memorial Student Center] (https://www.google.com/maps/place/Memorial+Student+Center/@30.6117851,-96.3409236,17z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x8646839854d18149:0x90311327f8c2221d!8m2!3d30.612282!4d-96.341376) .

The lecture series, which addresses critical issues facing the natural, virtual and built environment, is hosted annually by the [CRS Center for Leadership and Management in the Design and Construction Industry] (http://crs.arch.tamu.edu) at the Texas A&M College of Architecture.

“This year’s lecture was a springboard for a new collaborative approach to built environment studies that involves all the disciplines represented in our college,” said Valerian Miranda, director of the CRS Center.

At Transform Global, del Monte heads teams of leaders in academia and public and private sectors who work with community members to provide healthy living environments, educational opportunities for children, and preserve natural resources for future generations.

The firm’s projects include sustainable energy, water and waste management policies for the city of Lewisville, Texas, a sustainable design for a children’s school in Uganda and the restoration of a 2,000 acre area near a north Texas dam to a [public, native prairie ecosystem] (http://llela.unt.edu) .

A member of the American Institute of Architects’ [College of Fellows] (https://network.aia.org/cof/home) and a Design Futures Council [Senior Fellow] (http://www.designfuturescouncil.com/about/fellows/) , del Monte, an adjunct professor of engineering at Southern Methodist University and the campus’ sustainability consultant, has thirty years’ experience in architectural practice.

An expert in high performance building design, sustainable and resilient community design and integrated project delivery, del Monte was formerly a principal and director of sustainability for the [Beck Group] (http://www.beckgroup.com) , a national architecture and construction services firm.

Her experience also includes nine years with famed designers [Philip Johnson] (http://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/philip-johnson-architecture-buildings) and [John Burgee] (http://architectuul.com/architect/john-burgee) and design firms in Atlanta and Houston. del Monte earned a Master of Architecture degree from Rice University and a Bachelor of Science degree in architecture from the University of Virginia.

The Rowlett Lecture is named in honor of John Miles Rowlett, former professor of architecture at Texas A&M University, who along with fellow professor [William W. Caudill] (http://crs.arch.tamu.edu/archives/people/caudill/) and graduate students [Wallie E. Scott Jr] (https://www.arch.tamu.edu/community/formerstudents/outstanding-alumni/past-honorees/71/) . and [William Merriweather Peña] (http://crs.arch.tamu.edu/archives/people/pena/) established the architectural firm CRS. The lecture series was endowed in 1979 through a grant to the Texas Architectural Foundation by CRS Inc. and Mrs. Virginia Rowlett.