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Newsletter of the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University
One faculty member and two former students of Texas A&M’s College of Architecture have been elevated to membership in the American Institute of Architects’ College of Fellows, one of the highest honors the AIA bestows upon its members. AIA Fellows are selected for making significant contributions to architecture and society.
Mardelle Shepley, holder of the William Peña Endowed Professorship in Information Management at the Texas A&M College of Architecture, will join former students Brian Malarkey ’91 BED and David Thompson ’72 BED and ’74 MARCHat the May 13 FAIA investiture during the 2011 National AIA Convention and Design Exposition in New Orleans.
The three are among the 104 newest members of the College of Fellows.Founded in 1952, the college is composed of members elected by their AIA peers. Fewer than two percent of all registered architects have received the honor.
Mardelle Shepley, FAIA, a professor of architecture and director of Texas A&M’s Center for Health Systems and Design, was recently listed among nation’s 25 most influential people in healthcare design by Healthcare Design magazine.
Her 2010 book “Health Facility Evaluation for Designing Practitioners,” hailed as a definitive resource for evaluating health facilities, provides information to help design professionals better understand, plan, conduct and share pre- and post-occupancy evaluations of health facilities.
"Design for Critical Care: An Evidence-Based Approach," which she wrote in 2009 with Kirk Hamilton, associate professor of architecture at Texas A&M, makes a connection between research evidence and design practice and presents a holistic approach that outlines the future for successful design for critical care settings.
Her professional experience has included positions with the The Design Partnership and Tai Associates in San Francisco, the Ministry of Planning in the Republic of Panama, and the Department of City Planning in New York City.
Shepley, who joined the Texas A&M faculty in 1993, specializes in architectural design, social architecture and healthcare facility design, applied research and environmental psychology.
Brian Malarkey, FAIA, is an executive vice president for Houston-based Kirksey, an architecture, interior design, master planning, sustainable design and consulting firm.
As president of the Houston AIA chapter in 2008, Malarkey's focus on sustainability cemented Houston as a credible source for green building information and knowledge. He initiated five major programs—the Green Building Resource Center for the City of Houston, Houston Disaster Action following Hurricane Ike, which helped 567 area homeowners, the Greenworks Houston exhibition and publication, which continues as Greenworks Houston 2, the Green E-Toolbox monthly newsletter to AIA Houston members and a project to place solar panels on the George R. Brown Convention Center.
In 2003 Malarkey, chairman of the AIA Houston Committee on the Environment, launched Gulf Coast Green, an annual symposium and expo praised by the national AIA and the U.S. Green Building Council as a model for regional green building conferences.
“He is a pioneer for green building efforts, pursuing the transformation of Houston’s built environment,” wrote the jury that honored Malarkey with the AIA’s Young Architects Award in 2010.
Malarkey earned a Bachelor of Environmental Design degree from Texas A&M in 1991.
David V. Thompson, FAIA, senior vice president at RTKL, a global design firm, has dedicated his 37-year career to federal architecture. His portfolio is characterized by large-scale, security intensive and technologically complex environments that serve the unique needs of the intelligence community,U.S. government agencies and the military.
His work includes the post-9/11 reconstruction of the Pentagon and perimeter security for the U.S. Capitol, Supreme Court, House and Senate Office Buildings and Library of Congress.
Among his many honors are a commendation from secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld in 2002 and a Special Commendation in Historic Resources from the Washington, D.C. chapter of the AIA in 2003 for his work on the Pentagon, the Army Chief of Engineers Design Award and the Max O. Urbahn Medal from the Society of American Military Engineers for contributions to architecture in 2002.
Thompson is a frequent speaker on security design and related topics, and, in 2004, contributed to “Building Security: Handbook for Architectural Planning and Design,” the widely praised reference guide to security design. Thompson is also an avid collector of antique architectural drawing tools. His collection was displayed as part of the 2005 “Tools of the Imagination” exhibit at the National Building Museum, where he served on the Curatorial Advisory Committee.
Thompson earned a Master of Architecture degree in 1974 and a Bachelorof Environmental Design in 1972.
- Posted: Feb. 11, 2011 -
Contact: Phillip Rollfing, prollfing@archone.tamu.edu or 979.458.0442.
