Newsletter of the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University
CLASS OF 1948
Richard “Rip” Collins ’48 BARCH reports turning 85 on Nov. 11. All are welcome to visit his and his wife Marilyn’s web home page.
CLASS OF 1954
Alexander Brailas ’54 BARCH is a commissioner on the Emergency Services District 3 board in Comal County. He assists in planning and construction activities for the district’s new fire and paramedic facilities. Alexander is also director of the Canyon Lake noon Lions Club. He retired in 1999 from the Harris County Hospital District as executive director for facilities planning and construction.
CLASS OF 1956
Val Canon ’56 ARCH with PBK Architects in Dallas wants to congratulate Chris Carson ’56, FAIA, upon Carson’s design of media magnate Ted Turner’s New Mexico home. Carson’s design was featured in Architectural Digest. “Chris was my 5th year roommate,” said Canon. “I’m frequently reminded of his talents through releases such as this one in Architectural Digest. Good going, Chris!”
CLASS OF 1957
David B. Morris ’57 BARCH, has been elevated to partner and vice president of Turner Partners Architecture, LP. Morris has more than 40 years experience in architecture and has worked with Welton Becket Associates as vice-president and director of production, and was the sole proprietor at David Morris Architect. A member of the American Institute of Architects and the Texas Society of Architects, Morris has been involved in projects such as Pope John XXIII High School, Christ United Methodist Church in College Station , the United Methodist Temple in Port Arthur and St. Catherine of Sienna Episcopal Church.
CLASS OF 1958
John Moss ’58 BARCH is retired and living in a small town in Bahia Banderas, north of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
CLASS OF 1962
Edgar Marshall ’62 BARCH attended the class of ’59 reunion at Texas A&M Aggie Muster in April of 2009. He returned to San Antonio in April 2009 after 28 years in the Washington, D.C. area. He retired as director of architecture/engineering/construction at the University of Maryland at Baltimore in 1997 to work in facilities management. He retired as colonel of USA Engineers in 1989.
CLASS OF 1963
Thomas Hooker ’63 BARCH retired in 2008 at age 70 after a 45-year career in architecture. He was a partner at Wiginton Hooker Jeffry Architects in Dallas for 15 years, operated his own firm in Miami for 10 years, worked for Heery Associates in Atlanta, and CRS and CRSS in Houston.
CLASS OF 1965
Raymond Gomez ’64 BARCH, ’65 ARCO, has retired from architecture and is now enjoying teaching, painting, and sculpture. He’s doing some residential work in St. Lucia and Costa Rica.
CLASS OF 1966
Robert Eronimous ’66 BARCH and ’67 MURP retired in 2004 from Root 2 Architecture Engineering in Binghamton, NY, which he founded with two associates. He then moved to the Sunset Beach, N.C. area, where he began work part-time as a designer/draftsman with J.G. Architects, which has led to nearly full-time employment with the firm. Before founding Root 2 Architecture Engineering, he worked for 14 years as an employee of the city of Binghamton as a planner and community development director.
CLASS OF 1972
Kenneth Stroech ’72 BED retired from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in Jan. 2008 after 35 years of service in the federal government. His career focused on emergency preparedness, planning and response at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Environmental Protection Agency. He said a highlight of his government service was serving on the White House staff after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and five years at homeland security as a policy and program specialist in infrastructure protection. He retired as deputy chief of staff in the department’s office of infrastructure protection and joined Tetra Tech EMI in March 2008 to lead its homeland security and emergency management practice.
CLASS OF 1973
Joseph Luther ’73 MUP and ’75 DED has retired after 33 years of university teaching after moving home to Kerrville in 2005. He is professor emeritus from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Texas A&M College of Architecture. He’s chairman of the Kerr County Historical Commission and the board of directors of the Central Kerrville Development Corporation.
Robert Evans ’73 BED and 75 MARCH is a resident construction manager for the University of Texas System’s Office of Facilities Planning and Construction in San Antonio overseeing projects at the University of Texas – San Antonio and the UT Health Science Center. He’s currently working on a $75 million medical arts and research center and getting ready to break ground on a $110 million south Texas research facility. He obtained his LEED AP certification in 2007 and this year received certification as a Certified Construction Manager by the Construction Manager Certification Institute.
William Carlson ’73 BLA recently retired from the U.S. Forest Service as an architect serving the Arizona and New Mexico region. Earlier in his career with the federal government he was a forest landscape architect, working on forests in several different states.
CLASS OF 1976
Robert Rayborn ’76 BED and ’79 MARCH is the program manager for the construction of the Orlando Events Center, new home for the NBA’s Orlando Magic. The building is expected to be completed by October 2010.
CLASS OF 1979
M. Abdur Razzaque ’79 BED had some of his sculptures on display in June 2008 at the Texas Society of Sculptors’ Sculpture Exhibit at the Georgetown Public Library.
Chris Clements ’79 BED has gone green and sustainable. After 25 years in the commercial real estate and construction business in San Antonio, Clements joined Workplace Resource in 2008 to sell Modular interior architecture products: raised flooring, Modular walls, Modular electrical and sound masking materials. He said he still sees fellow BED classmates Mike Drewry, David Bommersbach and Bill Reeves.
Danny Pleasant ’79 MUP was recently promoted to director of the Charlotte Department of Transportation. His department is responsible for Charlotte’s road planning and operations. “His strategic planning and urban design expertise will help guide the city as we prepare for the future in terms of managing growth, sustaining a high quality of life and accommodating more residents,” said Charlotte city manager Curt Walton.
CLASS OF 1980
David Applebaum ’80 BED said he’s starting a 6-month plan to get busier and busier in his firm in Studio City, Calif., despite the state of the economy, and is hoping to lecture at the College of Architecture again soon. He has designed residences for Frank Sinatra, Cuba Gooding Jr., Diane Keaton and Rupert Murdoch.
CLASS OF 1981
Cal Young ’81 BED and ’83 MARCH , principal creative with CYA Design Collective in Plano, has created a design for a new restaurant in Estero, Fla, an architectural design and interiors for Two Rows Restaurant in Garland, an 18-screen Rave Motion Picture theater, and for the Towne Square in Las Vegas.
CLASS OF 1982
David Watson ’82 BLA is currently in transition but was the city administrator in Newton, Iowa. He attended the Iowa State vs. Texas A&M basketball game last winter and talked with the many Aggies in the Ames, Iowa area.
CLASS OF 1983
Jack Duran ’83 BED was recently promoted to partner and executive vice-president of Turner Partners Architecture LP in Houston. After graduating from Texas A&M, he received a Master of Architecture degree from Ohio State University. Through the span of his career, he has accumulated more than 20 years of experience designing and directing a variety of building projects, including education, commercial, institutional and religious spaces.
Larry Grosse ’83 COMG, ’87 Ph.D. URS, has been named department head and professor emeritus at Colorado State University’s Department of Construction Management. He retired as head of the department in 2007. Grosse is also a former construction science professor at Texas A&M.
CLASS OF 1985
Stacey Daniel ’85 BED is a captain in the Montgomery County, Maryland fire rescue service. “I’m using my degree for building construction, since its very important to know how a building will burn based on its construction, and model building for tabletop training scenarios.”
James Swetlick ’85 BED is a certified interior designer with Arris, a design studio in Baltimore. He’s working on large healthcare projects in the Baltimore area, raising his son and learning to play ice hockey.
CLASS OF 1988
Greg Cooper ’88 BLA is developing a market for an innovative porous pavement system constructed of recycled material. The system also filters hydrocarbons from stormwater. Greg is also helping landscape architects from Texas A&M network through the free LinkedIn website. He said interested Aggie landscape architects can join a free group at www.linkedin.com.
CLASS OF 1990
Floyd Lambert ’90 BDCR recently moved to Seattle from Tampa. He and his wife Julie are expecting their first child, a girl, in April.
CLASS OF 1991
Phillip Crain ’91 BDCR formed Crain Zamora, a commercial general contracting firm, in 2004. Since then, he and his wife Raeanne greeted their third child into the world, who will be three years old in January 2009. He reports life is good.
CLASS OF 1992
Tim Dentler ’92 BLA was featured in Pegasus News as the city of Allen’s Parks and Recreation director. Dentler oversees a department with an $8.6 million budget with 161 fulltime employees maintaining 1,087 acres of parks, a golf course and four recreation centers, including a natatorium. The story is available at the Pegasus News website. Allen is 25 miles northeast of downtown Dallas.
Ruel E. “Ed” Radford ‘92 BDCR, has been promoted to vice president of Hayward Baker’s central region. Radford has been with Hayward Baker, a geotechnical contracting company, since 1993, holding a variety of responsibilities, including project manager, operations manager and area manager for the company’s Dallas-Ft. Worth and Gulf Coast offices. He is responsible for the oversight of projects and resources in a six-state region including Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and New Mexico.
CLASS OF 1993
Maria Hodgson ’93 MUP has recently moved back to Texas with her husband Marvin after spending 14 years in Ohio. She’s a stay-at-home mom for their nine-year old son Zachary Ryan Hodgson.
CLASS OF 1994
Warren Cohn ’94 BED recently left the military and is looking for opportunities to work in the construction/architecture industry. The Conroe native would like to work in the greater Houston area.
CLASS OF 1995
Chris DiFloria ‘95 BDCR has been hired as mechanical electrical plumbing director for the Texas division of McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. “We are thrilled to welcome Chris as our new MEP Director,” said McCarthy’s Texas division president Mike McWay. “His practical knowledge in the field and enthusiasm for his work will make him a strong addition to McCarthy.”
DiFloria, a member of the American Subcontractor Association and Associated Builders and Contractors, will be responsible for providing MEP analysis, coordination and design review, as well as value engineering support.
CLASS OF 1996
Whitney Neal ’96 BLA is a Realtor with Williams Trew Real Estate Services in Fort Worth, representing buyers and sellers mostly in older neighborhoods on the city’s west and southwest sides, which he’s attracted to because of their sustainability. He became a Realtor in 2002 after working for an Arlington firm that designed golf courses throughout the Midwest.
Ko Wibowo ’96 MARCH was visited by Dwell magazine which featured his home, which he designed, in its Oct. 2008 issue. See www.dwell.com for the story.
CLASS OF 1997
Jorge Rousselin ’97 BED been promoted to an urban design project manager with the city of Austin’s Neighborhood Planning and Zoning Department. He will be working with the city’s downtown master plan and coordinating other urban design initiatives including downtown redevelopment and implementation of mixed-use, new urbanist dense developments and rail initiatives for Austin.
CLASS OF 1998
Pat Morrah ’98 MARCH has joined the FWA Group as project architect. He has eight years of experience. The FWA Group has offices in Colorado, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Christopher Pick ’98 BED is an information technology manager at a Dallas law firm. He’s also the co-founder of froogloid, a mobile application development company. Froogloid will be developing applications for the android-capable phones.
Michael Flowers ’98 BED and Judson Moore ’98 BED are in their second year of private practice with their firm, farm architecture and research, in Portland, Ore. They co-founded the firm while teaching as adjunct professors at Montana State University. Their projects range from small residence and tenant improvements to urban and rural planning.
CLASS OF 2000
Joshua Miller ’00 BED, is a national project coordinator with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — Center of Standardization.
Miguel Botello ’00 BED and ’02 MARCH has been promoted to associate with C.T. Hsu + Associates, an Orlando-based architectural planning and design firm celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2009.
Rene Ramirez ’00 COSC was promoted to Texas A&M University System construction project manager in 2008 and is managing the $47.8 million Texas Institute for Preclinical Studies project, the $13.5 million Central Utility Plant Upgrade, the $9.8 million Chemistry Building 72 Wing Renovation and the $22 million Cox-McFerrin Center for Aggie Basketball project.
CLASS OF 2001
Mariana Estrada-Sayagues ’01 BED has been back in her hometown of Liberia, Costa Rica for the past four years. She’s been working on the renovation of an old school called El Punto, which houses a bed and breakfast and several other tourism-related businesses. She wanted to say hello to George Mann, who has served as an inspiration for her work.
Clint Menefee ’01 BED has been promoted to associate at F&S Partners in Dallas, where he’s been for four years; the firm specializes in educational, religious and recreational facilities for institutions and municipalities in Texas.
Jason Beane ’01 BED, a project coordinator for CMA, an architecture, planning and interior design firm in Fort Worth, moved back to Texas in 2007 after working for firms in Paso Robles, Calif., and Los Angeles since graduating. He’s enjoyed working in a variety of different markets such as education, healthcare, retail, residential, and industrial hospitality. He’s finishing up his ARE exams in California and then will obtain a license in Texas.
CLASS OF 2002
Kate Watson ’02 BED and ’06 MARCH was recently married to former student Nathan Weston and is enjoying her job as staff architect at WDG Architecture in Dallas.
CLASS OF 2003
Megan McCoy ’03 BED got married in July 2007, earned a masters degree in 2008 and is with her husband in Edinburgh, Scotland. She’s studying for her U.S. licensing exams and traveling as much as possible.
Sterling Smith ’03 BED is a project manager at Raymond Harris Associates in Dallas and is working on a Wal-Mart/Sam’s/parking garage project. Previously, he was at Johnson Architects and Fossil Inc.
Sarine Ross Scott ’03 is an estimator/project manager at M. Hanna Construction Company in Sulphur Springs. He and his wife are enjoying their first baby, Jack Hays, who was born on July 17, 2006.
Tracy Richmond-Allen ’03 BED achieved LEED AP status in November 2008. He works at DCC Architects LLC in Aurora, Colo.
CLASS OF 2004
Kate Robinson ’04 COSC and her husband, Nathan Robinson, welcomed Hunter Bradley Robinson into the world on Nov. 1, 2007.
Pamela Murray ’04 COSC moved to Corpus Christi in 2007, got married and is expecting her first child in April. She’s a construction superintendent with Hogan Homes.
Yashambari Ajinkya ’04 MS COMG, is working on a project in collaboration with the Jacobs Engineering Group’s Calgary office and was featured in the project’s newsletter.
CLASS OF 2005
David Morris ’05 BED and ’08 MS VIZA is living in Houston and working as an information technology consultant for Pariveda Solutions.
Truitt Ruan ’05 BED has received a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Cincinnati and moved to Chicago to begin his career at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
Josh Guerra ’05 MARCH is working at Ankrom Moisan Architects in Portland, Ore. and is currently working on a LEED building. He’s hoping everything’s going well in Aggieland.
Edward Burns ’05 BDCR is a project manager with Clark Construction Inc. in Oklahoma City. He’s nearing completion of Oklahoma’s largest car dealership, and his company had its best year in its history in 2008. He’s getting engaged early in 2009. “Life is good, thanks to the education I received from Texas A&M,” he said.
CLASS OF 2006
Mike Refsland ’06 BED is at the University of Minnesota finishing dual masters programs in sustainable design and architecture. He plans to complete the degree programs in May 2009.
John Grant ’06 MARCH is an intern at The Arkitex Studio, Inc. in Bryan. He’s worked on assisted living facilities, condominiums, schools, churches and homes.
CLASS OF 2007
Filipa Arinto ’07 MARCH, has been working for an architecture firm in Lisbon, Portugal since 2007.
CLASS OF 2008
Ashley Cooper ’08 BED is getting married May 16, 2009, will become Ashley Pacheco and move to Los Angeles.
Tess Carter ’08 BED is currently pursuing a Master of Art Education at Texas A&M.
Justin Holzheauser ’08 COSC owns his own landscaping business and is looking to start law school in Texas in 2009.
Cody Barnett ’08 COSC is taking over his father’s construction business in Lockhart. He’s also engaged to be wed in March 2009.
Adrienne Bottoms ’08 BLA became a LEED AP in October 2008. She is a landscape designer with Knudson LP.
