Join AIA Chicago at this year's annual meeting on  
During the meeting, in addition to issuing the Firm of the Year, the Dubin Family Young Architect Award and the Distinguished Service Award, members will vote the slates for 2016 AIA Chicago Board of Directors and AIA Chicago Foundation Board. 

Please review the candidates for the Board of Directors
as proposed by the Nominating Committee below.

President
Dawn Schuette, FAIA  Candidate for term ending 12/31/16
Dawn Schuette, FAIA, LEED AP, is a partner at Threshold Acoustics. A graduate of the Illinois Institute of Technology, Schuette is a past Chair of the National AIA Advisory Group for the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art, and Architecture (IFRAA). She taught as an Adjunct Professor in the College of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology and is a member of IIT's Alumni Board of Directors. She authored an invited chapter for Building Type Basics for Performing Arts Facilities and is a contributing writer to the Journal of American Organbuilding and other publications. She has presented her work at national conventions for the American Institute of Organbuilders, the American Institute of Architects, and the Acoustical Society of America.

First Vice President/President Elect
Matthew Dumich, AIA
Candidate for term ending
12/31/16
Matthew Dumich is a project manager with Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture. He serves on the AIA National Young Architects Forum Advisory Committee and led the 2012 AIA National Membership Marketing Task Force focusing on engaging emerging professional members. He is a founder of the AIA Chicago BRIDGE mentoring and leadership program, which received a Presidential Citation award from AIA Chicago in 2009, and the AIA Illinois Council for Emerging Professionals. Dumich was recognized for his leadership with the 2011 Building Design + Construction magazine's 40 Under 40 award and the 2012 AIA Chicago Dubin Family Young Architect Award.

Past President
Anthony LoBello, AIA
for term ending 12/31/16
Anthony LoBello, AIA, is a Learning Practice Leader in the Chicago office of SmithGroup JJR. He helps lead the North Central Region in Higher Education efforts, ensuring that their research, talent and resources are appropriately applied to their projects on behalf of clients. Tony has worked with colleges and universities such as University of Chicago, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Erikson Institute, SIU-C, Chicago State University and DePaul University. Tony is involved in furthering the profession of architecture through his work with the AIA, Society for College and University Planning and the United States Green Building Council. 

Vice President, Advocacy Catherine Baker, AIA
 Candidate for term ending 12/31/17
Catherine Baker, AIA, is a partner at Landon Bone Baker Architects. The focus of work at the firm is affordable housing and community-based design. At LBBA, Catherine manages various projects including master planning of neighborhoods, new and renovated single-family housing, multifamily housing and daycare centers. Catherine is active in Chicago's architectural educational community-focused programs, mainly on CPS high school students. She also runs the office's summer lab program which employs high school students to initiate change in their neighborhood through environmental assessment studies and community asset mapping. Catherine also serves on the Board of Directors at the Chicago Asthma Consortium where she is coordinating efforts between health experts, builders, developers, and architects to design healthier living environments.


Vice President, Sponsorship
Robert Forest, FAIA
Candidate for term ending 12/31/16
Robert Forest, FAIA, is a founding partner at Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, where he leads the management of all of the firm's projects. A recognized authority on the economics of sustainable design, Bob has lectured and published widely on "best practices" for the management of high-performance architecture. He is a member of the AIA Chicago Large Firm Round Table Committee, the US Green Building Council, and the China Committee of the Chicago Sister Cities program. Prior to co-founding AS+GG in 2006, Bob was an Associate Partner in the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and had previously worked at design firms in Toronto, Hong Kong and Osaka, Japan. Bob is one of the founding principals of PositivEnergy Practice, a sustainability, an energy, engineering and consulting firm.



Vice President,
Honors & Awards
Philip Castillo, FAIA
Candidate for term ending 12/31/16

Philip Castillo is a Partner and Executive Vice President at JAHN where he has worked closely with Helmut Jahn on large scale urban developments and complex projects including Sony Center in Berlin, Germany and the Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok, Thailand. Philip began his association with Helmut Jahn in 1978, becoming a Partner in 2011. He was inducted into the College of Fellows in 2010 and is a member of the Large Firm Round Table at AIA Chicago and the Chicago Committee on High Rise Buildings. Speaking engagements include the CTBUH World Conferences in Melbourne, Australia and Mumbai, India.

 

 

Treasurer 
Craig Cernek, AIA
Candidate for term ending 12/31/17
Craig Cernek, AIA, LEED AP, is principal of The Archi/Build Group, a small firm providing architecture and design/build services for residential and light commercial needs in the greater Chicago metropolitan area since 1990. Cernek is current co-chair of AIA Chicago's Small Practitioners Group, chair of the Small Project Awards, and a past chair of the Working with an Architect committee.  He also chairs the Friends of West Edgewater Park, a not-for-profit neighborhood group, advocating the development of a public park on the property of the shuttered Edgewater Medical Center in Chicago.

 

Secretary
Craig Brandt, AIA
Candidate for term ending 12/31/16

In his role as Principal and Project Architect with HBRA Architects in Chicago, Craig Brandt, AIA, has directed visible and significant public projects in the Institutional, Academic, and Government sectors.  During his involvement in AIA Chicago, he has served as committee chair and juror for the AIA design committee engaging in activities that advocate for design excellence. He has served as Adjunct Professor at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee where student projects engage relevant urban issues, and has shared his insight as a guest design critic at several institutions.  He was the recipient of the AIA Chicago Young Architect Award in 2009, and is a member of the Society of Fellows at the American Academy in Rome.

Director
Nootan Bharani, AIA
Continuing term ending 12/31/16
Bharani is an Architect for the Carbon Solutions National Practice of CB&I and is Managing Director for Shaw Sustainable Solutions of Illinois, LLC, a subsidiary of CB&I. Bharani has served on the board of directors of AIA Illinois as well as Chicago Women in Architecture. As a founder of the AIA Chicago Community Interface Committee, Bharani actively advocates for sustainability in multiple spheres of work. 

 

Director
Laura Garcia, AIA
 Candidate for term ending 12/31/18
Laura Garcia, AIA, LEED AP, NCARB founded Laura Garcia Design in 2010 after nearly 20 years of experience in the commercial architectural world. Her small firm focuses on residential and small commercial projects in the Chicago area and beyond, and is dedicated to exceptional client service and design. Laura is the current co-chair of AIA Chicago's Small Practitioners Group, and is a past chair and active presenter of the Working With an Architect /Ask an Architect program. She is also a past chair of the SPG's DOB committee, and currently serves on the broader AIA Chicago DOB committee, which meets regularly with the Commissioner's office.



Director
Jessica Figenholtz, AIA
 Candidate for term ending 12/31/18
  As Director of Higher Education Planning, Jessica is focused on enhancing educational experiences and outcomes in the rapidly evolving education landscape. She believes in developing innovative strategies that creatively integrate design, business and learning environments. Jessica is a widely-recognized expert in higher education design with more than 13 years of professional experience. She has developed long-term relationships with some of the world's top higher education institutions.
Known for her agility in operating within multiple practice areas, including higher education, K-12, retail, and commercial interiors, Jessica is regarded for her thorough understanding of the client and project context. She is deeply involved in planning, redevelopment, and sustainability - and believes that design should deliver impact, create value and transform lives for today's learner and future generations to come.
 insight to her daily interactions.


Director
Edward M Peck, AIA, LEEP AP
Candidate for term ending 12/31/17
Edward has more than 15 years of experience in architecture as a building scientist and architect. Throughout his career he has specialized on projects involving sustainable and innovative building skins. He has experience as a design architect, a design technical leader of specialty skin / façade contractor and as a technical skin consultant. Edward is currently a Vice President at Thornton Tomasetti where he is one of the leaders of the Façade Engineering Practice.
 


  Director
April Hughes, AIA
Candidate for term ending 12/31/16
April Hughes, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, BD+C, is Managing Principal at HPZS. April was named AIA Chicago Dubin Family Young Architect of the Year in 2013, and was also the recipient of the AIA Illinois John Wellborn Root Award. April has extensive sustainable design experience, highlighted by the completion of three LEED Platinum and one Gold project. A leader in Chicago firsts, April collaborated on the design of Chicago's first greywater system for a single-family residence, and one of the first variable volume vent hood installations for a restaurant kitchen in the city; her work has resulted in Chicago's first net-zero single-family residence (Yannell Residence) and first net-zero commercial building (Harmony House).

  Director
Jennifer Park, AIA
Candidate for term ending 12/31/18
Jennifer Park, AIA, is principal and owner of Jurassic Studio, a design firm that enjoys exploring form, patterns, composition and their translation into our social context.  Her professional experience in architecture, design and education spans cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Richmond, and her project experience spans academic, commercial, retail and residential settings.  Jennifer maintains close ties to academia currently serving as an adjunct professor at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) teaching architecture studio courses.  She believes in teaching students how to think critically about our social and political environment as part of the design process.  In addition to several project awards, Jennifer recently was acknowledged as one of Chicago's 2015 Women of Influence in Michigan Avenue magazine and was a finalist for Curbed's 2015 Young Guns Award recognizing rising talent in the fields of architecture and development.  She also is a recipient of the 2015 Burnham Prize for the Currencies of Architecture Competition hosted by the Chicago Architectural Club in affiliation with the Chicago Architecture Biennial.


Director
Michael Pfeffer, AIA Candidate for term ending 12/31/17
M ichael Pfeffer has worked on complex projects in more than two dozen cities around the world. He oversees the design of buildings in his dual roles as project manager and director in SOM's Chicago office. His approach is rooted in SOM's core values of design excellence, innovation and sustainability. His civic commitments include spearheading SOM's ReBuilding Together program each year and serving on the Windy City Habitat for Humanity Board of Directors. Academically, Pfeffer lectures on professional practice issues at his alma mater in South Bend, Indiana, and hosts an advanced undergraduate class for a design presentation at SOM in Chicago.


Associate Director
Vuk Vujovic, Assoc. AIA
Candidate for term ending 12/31/18
Vuk Vujovic is a Vice President, Director of Sustainability & Energy at Legat Architects in Chicago.  He has a leadership role in integrating energy-efficient and environmentally friendly design among all the firm's projects. 
His focus is on architectural research and sustainable design, as well as education of design professionals and general public about sustainability, renewable energy and the benefits of high performance building systems. Vuk is an Associate Member of AIA, member of USGBC Illinois and a member of International Living Future Institute.
Vuk Vujovic is also a Director of Legat Architect's design studio in Chicago, Illinois. The responsibility of this leadership position is to guide and mentor all project managers and architectural personnel in the skills and tasks of quality project delivery and to ensure the success of all projects within the design studio.

Associate Director
Laura Crane,  Assoc. AIA Candidate for term ending 12/31/17
Laura Crane is an Architectural Designer at bKL Architecture, as well as an aspiring furniture designer and fabricator.  Current co-Chair of AIA Chicago's Young Architects Forum, she is an advocate for networking local young design professionals to advance in Chicago's prominent design community. Laura received her Bachelor of Science from Florida State University in Interior Design, in addition to working in electrical engineering before moving to Chicago to receive her Master of Architecture degree from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and pursue a career in architecture. 


 

Professional Affiliate Director
 Fred Berglund, Affiliate AIA Continuing term ending 12/31/16

Fred Berglund serves as the President of Berglund Construction Company. Berglund Construction is a 103 yr. old Chicago based firm with expertise in new construction, renovation and historical preservation. Fred has been with the company for over 30 years and is responsible for the overall strategy and operations of the firm. As President, he oversees all executive management operations and has positioned the company in the healthcare, hospitality, higher education, commercial and government market sectors. He has expanded the operations in the Midwest with offices in Indiana and Ohio. Fred is a member of the Board of Trustees for the La Rabida Children's Hospital, Past President of Chicago Building Congress and has held several leadership positions with charitable organizations. The company has been recognized with numerous awards for its efforts in new construction and preservation.  

  Professional Affiliate Director
Avraham Mor
 Continuing term ending 12/31/17

Avraham Mor is a partner and lead lighting designer for the Chicago office of Lightswitch Architectural, a global lighting design firm. Avraham collaborates with architects, engineers and other design and construction professionals to design fiscally and environmentally responsible lighting for commercial, educational, hospitality, museum, residential, and retail projects. He has served as the Secretary of the Chicago Architecture Foundation Auxiliary Board, the President of the Illumination Engineering Society (IES) Chicago Section, and the regional coordinator for the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD). He is dedicated to increasing sponsorship for AIA Chicago and helping to support both the Sponsorship Committee and Small Practitioner's Group in their efforts. He is also interested in partnering with the Chicago Energy Benchmarking Working Group to increase its visibility in the lighting and lighting controls market.  
_________________________________________________________________
Student Director
Emma Camilleri, AIAS Candidate for term ending 12/31/16
Emma Camilleri is currently in her second year of a Master of Architecture with Emphasis in Interior Architecture at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She received her BA in Architecture & Urbanism from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. She is particularly interested in adaptive reuse and experience of the user within interior space. 


AIA Illinois Delegate
Fred Brandstrader, AIA Candidate for term ending 12/31/18
As a Director of Project Management with the CBRE team in downtown Chicago, Fred Brandstrader provides full program & project management services, including: building due diligence, full cycle planning / design / construction/ close-out project management services for both the hospitality and commercial sectors.

AIA Illinois Delegate
Janeen Harrell, AIA
Continuing term ending 12/31/16
Janeen Harrell is a native of North Carolina and earned a Bachelor of Architecture from Hampton University. She practiced with The Freelon Group Architects before studying at Cornell where she earned a Master of Arts in Interior Design with a specialization in Sustainable and Regenerative design. Her thesis explored the affordability of sustainable housing through comparison of materials and potential contribution to a carbon trading market. After graduating, she stayed at Cornell to teach the Sophomore Interior Design Studio before moving to Chicago, where she has worked with Nicholas Clark Architects and   Harley Ellis Devereaux.

AIA Illinois Delegate 
Ellen Dickson, AIA 
Continuing term ending 12/31/16

Ellen Bailey Dickson, AIA, is the founder and managing partner of Bailey Edward Design, a Chicago-based architecture and engineering firm established in 1991. Dickson, a Registered Architect and Interior Designer, is responsible for directing the day-to-day business operations and marketing efforts for the firm. A frequent lecturer before business and community organizations, Dickson has taught at the university level and has served in leadership positions within organizations including the American Institute of Architects and National Organization of Women Business Owners.  
AIA Chicago
Foundation
Board Slate
Fred Brandstrader, AIA
Tim Brown, AIA
Christoper Chwedyk, AIA
Lisa DiChiera, Landmarks Illinois
Roberta Feldman, PhD 
Laura Fisher, FAIA
JinHua (Gina) Paradowicz, AIA
Peter Schlossman, AIA
Jayshree Shah, AIA 
Gracia Maria Shiffrin, FAIA
Walter D. Street III, AIA
Grant Uhlir, AIA
Mary Woolever
 
Ex-Officio Members
Dawn Schuette, FAIA
President

Zurich Esposito, Hon. AIA Chicago
Executive Vice President 

Paul M. Lurie, Esq., Emeritus Member