Auburn Grads Lead National Architecture Organizations

For the first time, two of the five major architecture organizations, considered by architects as collective national leaders of the field, are being helmed by Auburn grads. L. Jane Frederick, a 1981 graduate, is the president of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), and Sarah Curry, a 2019 graduate, is the current president of the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS).

A fellow of the AIA, Frederick graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture from Auburn’s College of Architecture, Design & Construction (CADC). She is the founder of the award-winning Frederick + Frederick Architects in Beaufort, South Carolina, which in 2017 was awarded the Firm Award by AIA South Carolina. She has served AIA nationally in many capacities, including time as an at-large director on the national Board of Directors.

Curry earned her Bachelor of Architecture degree this past summer after spending almost two years at CADC’s Rural Studio in Newbern, Alabama, where she worked on a project called 20Kv22 Home, creating designs for homes that can be affordably built and reasonably priced to maintain. She also served as a graduate teaching assistant and was the president of AIAS on campus at Auburn.

Curry began her one-year term as AIAS President this past summer and Frederick was installed in December, so for the next five months, these women will work concurrently as national leaders of architecture. CADC Dean Vini Nathan has stated that both Frederick and Curry will be celebrated at the CADC Annual Awards Banquet this coming fall, along with AIA Gold Medal winner Marlon Blackwell.