Kenneth Schwartz, fAia, Jury Chair

In 2014, Kenneth Schwartz was appointed as the founding director of the Phyllis M. Taylor Center for Social Innovation and Design Thinking in addition to his role as dean of the Tulane School of Architecture. Following his appointment as dean (in 2008 through 2018), the school became one of the most visible units of Tulane University as a national model of innovative, engaged, and empathetic pedagogy working in close partnership with neighborhood and non-profit organizations throughout New Orleans and beyond. His research interests currently center on social innovation, social entrepreneurship, and theories of change involving social and environmental issues. Previously, Schwartz was on the University of Virginia faculty for twenty-four years and founder of the non-profit Charlottesville Design Resources Center. This initiative was started with a federal grant of $500,000 that he secured as co-PI with the Director of the Jefferson District Metropolitan Organization, a regional planning agency covering five counties and Charlottesville.  During his time at UVA, he was chairman of the architecture department and senior associate dean. He has conducted an active practice and research agenda where he explores issues of architecture in the public realm with a strong focus on community design and planning issues necessary for the creation of healthy and equitable urban environments. Among the many vivid experiences over more than a decade at Tulane, the highlight was the time when he was blessed by His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama when he gave the graduation address at Tulane’s Commencement ceremony. Thanks in part due to his blessing, it was indeed a very good year for me.

David Powell, FAIA, Principal, hastings

David M. Powell, FAIA, has been designing nationally celebrated, award-winning architecture since 1991. As a former musician, Dave’s work shares vocabularies across multiple art forms—drawing from the creative community and storytelling culture formed by the legendary songwriters of his home city of Nashville, Tennessee. As a Principal of HASTINGS, Dave’s diverse body of work has garnered many accolades, including over 50 AIA design awards, and has been recognized by The Architect's Newspaper, ARCHITECT Magazine, Architectural Record, The Chicago Athenaeum, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the Urban Land Institute.

In 2023, Dave was honored to receive the National AIA Award for Excellence in Public Architecture (formerly identified as the Thomas Jefferson Award).   Additionally, in 2016, Dave was elevated to the American Institute of Architect’s prestigious College of Fellows for his design excellence, leadership, and positive contributions to architecture and society. He is currently serving as the inaugural Advisory Board Chair for the new College of Architecture and Design at Belmont University, and on the Founding Board for the Museum of Contemporary Arts Nashville (MoCAN).  He has also served on a variety of boards and committees for non-profit organizations such as the Urban Land Institute, Urban Housing Solutions, and Nashville Repertory Theatre, and as President of the Board of Directors for AIA Middle Tennessee and the Nashville Civic Design Center.

Paula Peer, AIA

Paula Peer is President of Trapolin Peer Architects, a New Orleans firm with a four-decade legacy of architectural stewardship through adaptive reuse and urban infill design. Since joining in 2001, Peer has helped shape the firm’s identity as a leader in transforming historic structures and advancing sustainable, community-centered design across the Gulf South.

A native of South Louisiana, Peer graduated from the University of Louisiana, Lafayette and began her career in Los Angeles, CA. She later worked with RTKL in Dallas, TX , before moving back to New Orleans to further her passion of designing walkable, community based housing and educational projects.  

A longtime advocate for equity in our industry and community, Peer is Past President of AIA New Orleans, Chair for Mission Advancement at ULI Louisiana, and Co-Founder of Women in Architecture New Orleans. Under her leadership, Trapolin-Peer has earned regional recognition, including multiple AIA design awards, for its transformational, place-based design work.

Marleen Davis, FAIA

Marleen Kay Davis FAIA is a professor and dean emerita of the University of Tennessee College of Architecture and Design. .  When the University of Tennessee named Davis as Dean of the College of Architecture and Design in 1994, she was the fifth woman ever appointed to a deanship of an American architecture program. Prior to joining UT, she taught at Syracuse University School of Architecture and worked with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in Boston. In her four decades as an architectural educator, she has taught in all areas of the curriculum.

Davis has participated in a variety of service activities, with leadership roles in campus planning, downtown task force / committees, and community boards. She has been active in the national boards of professional organizations, most notably serving as President of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA).

Davis’s creative activity has focused on hypothetical design work, competitions, and urban design. She has collaborated with Thomas K. Davis, with numerous awards, exhibits, and publications to their credit. Most recently, she received an Honorable Mention for an Accessory Dwelling Unit competition, sponsored by her local AIA chapter.  In 2016, AIA Tennessee recognized Davis with the “Samuel Morgan Lifetime Service Award, “for contribution to architecture in the public realm.”

Jonathan Tate, AIA

Jonathan Tate is principal of OJT (Office of Jonathan Tate), an architecture and urban design practice in New Orleans. Along with their conventional architectural practice, the office engages in numerous design-related activities, including applied research, opportunistic planning, and strategic development. Their work has received numerous awards, including National AIA Housing Awards and the National AIA Honor Award in Architecture. The office has been recognized as an Emerging Voices by the Architectural League of New York, a Next Progressive by Architect Magazine, and a finalist for the international Architecture Review Emerging Architect Award. Tate is the recipient of the Award in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Tate is a graduate of Auburn University, where he was a participant at the Rural Studio, and Harvard University Graduate School of Design. In addition to his role at OJT, he is a Professor of Practice at Tulane University School of Architecture in New Orleans, Louisiana USA.