On Wednesday, September 17, 2014, at 12:30 p.m., members and staff of the Virginia Society AIA celebrated “a moment in time” when 5 members of the AIA in Virginia met exactly 100 years earlier in the same place—Richmond’s Jefferson Hotel—to create the AIA in Virginia. Following the reading of the minutes of that meeting by VSAIA Secretary Eric Keplinger, AIA, five “elder statesmen” of the Society gave brief biographical sketches of the founders, and President Jack Davis, FAIA, called the roll of the 81 men and women who have led the Society in its first 100 years.
As Executive Vice President/CEO John Braymer, Hon. AIA, noted in his welcoming comments, the Centennial Luncheon was a time to reflect on the accumulated human effort and dedicated service that brought the Virginia Society AIA to this point in its history. Also recognized were William C. Noland Medalists, Virginia Members of the AIA College of Fellows, Richard Upjohn Fellows of the AIA from Virginia, Presidents, Chairs, and executive officers of the Virginia Foundation for Architecture, Distinguished Members of Staff with more than 10 years of service, and a short list of chief executives beginning in 1970. AIA President Helene C. Dreiling, FAIA, one of three Virginia architects to have held the Institute’s highest office, conferred a Presidential Citation on the Society near the climax of the program.
Plans are now underway for the next centennial celebration—the VSAIA Bicentennial—on Monday, Sept. 17, 2114.
See the program. Read the text of the Presidential Citation.
