Elizabeth Chu Richter, FAIA, inaugurated 2015 AIA President

{"version":"0.3.0","atoms":[],"cards":[],"markups":[],"sections":[[1,"h2",[[0,[],0,"\n\n\n\n"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Elizabeth Chu Richter, FAIA, CEO of Richter Architects in\nCorpus Christi, Texas, was inaugurated as the 91st President of the AIA during\nceremonies held on December 12, 2014, at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington,\nD.C. She succeeds the 90th President, Helene Combs Dreiling, FAIA, in representing\nover 85,500 AIA members."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\u201cAs architects, we use our creativity to serve\nsociety\u2014to make our communities better places to live. Through our profession\nand our life\u2019s work, each of us has shaped and re-shaped the ever-changing\nnarrative that is America in both humble and spectacular ways,\u201d said Richter,\nin the Portrait Gallery\u2019s Kogod Courtyard, under Foster + Partners\u2019 tessellated\ncanopy. \u201cWe have created harmony where there was none. We have shown we can see\nwhat is not yet there. We have shown we have the courage to grow, to change,\nand to renew ourselves.\u201d"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"In setting a course for the AIA and the profession\u2019s\nfuture, she identified three issues that merit close attention. The first is\nthe challenges of a global economy that is increasingly urbanizing: \u201cThe\nmessage is clear: We must be prepared to apply our talents anywhere and\neverywhere.\u201d"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"She went on to speak of the need for an informed public:\n\u201cFew understand the impact [architecture] has on their lives. Every building\nhas a story. Let\u2019s tell them!\u201d She also spoke of the obligation owed to\nemerging professionals: \u201cAs a profession, each of us has an obligation to help\nall the bright, passionate, and creative young women and men to succeed. They\nare the profession\u2019s future.\u201d"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"In an evening that included a toast by the 20 former AIA\nPresidents in attendance, the emotional highlight was Richter\u2019s introduction of\nher 96-year-old mother. It was she who took her six children from Hong Kong to\na new future in America. \u201cI share my mother\u2019s story because it speaks to me of\ncourage and resilience, values that I admire, values that I try to live by. I\nshare it to express the gratitude I feel to this country for the opportunities\ngiven to me. My story is the story of America.\u201d"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Born in Nanjing, China, Richter grew up in Hong Kong and\nDallas, Texas. She received her Bachelor of Architecture from the University of\nTexas at Austin in 1974. In 2001, the American Institute of Architects\nconferred her with a national Young Architects Award in recognition of her\ncommunity-sensitive designs and her leadership role in heightening the public\u0027s\nawareness of regional and urban issues through her award-winning public radio\nseries, \u201cThe Shape of Texas,\u201d which ran from 1998 to 2011. In 2005, she was\nelevated to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects in\nrecognition of her contributions of national significance in making the\nprofession of ever-increasing service to the society. Richter served as\nPresident of the Texas Society of Architects in 2007 and, most recently, as a\nregional director representing Texas on the AIA\u2019s National Board of Directors."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"In that time, Richter provided leadership to\nher firm, which received the 2011 Texas Society of Architects Firm Award.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"]]]]}