January 12, 2009

Frances Halsband, FAIA will serve as the Spring 2009 Kea Distinguished Professor in the Architecture program.

This visiting professorship, funded by Paul H. and Grace Kea, has played an important part in the life of the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation by recognizing eminent practitioners and scholars. Kea Professors serve as critics and lecturers in the Architecture Program. They bring unique perspectives from practice and/or academia that enhance the academic experiences of students and faculty colleagues.

Frances Halsband received a Bachelor of Arts from Swarthmore College and a Master of Architecture from Columbia University. She is a partner in the firm Kliment Halsband Architects, where she has received many national honors for her work.

Kliment Halsband won the 1997 AIA Firm Award and the 1998 Medal of Honor from NYCAIA. In addition, the firm has won four national honor awards and has been awarded three projects through the GSA Design Excellence program: Federal Courthouses in Gulfport, MS and Brooklyn, NY and a Visitor Center for the Franklin Roosevelt Presidential Library in Hyde Park. The majority of the firm's work is on college and university campuses. Current clients include Johns Hopkins, Yale, Rockefeller, NYU, Vassar, Arcadia, Geneseo and Old Westbury. The firm has just completed a new graduate school at the American Museum of Natural History.

Professor Halsband served as Dean of the School of Architecture at Pratt Institute in New York. She has also served as Visiting Distinguished Professor at the Universities of Maryland, Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, California at Berkeley and Ball State. She has taught at Cincinnati, Columbia, and in joint studios with Robert Kliment at Harvard, North Carolina State, Pennsylvania, Rice and Virginia.

Halsband is Architect Advisor to the Corporation at Brown University. She is on the Architectural Review Board of the Federal Reserve Bank, and has served on the Architectural Advisory Board of the U.S. Department of State. She has served as a commissioner of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, as President of the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and as President of the Architectural League of New York.

Halsband will participate in thesis reviews on the following dates:

• February 10 & 11 (one-on-one consultation with thesis students)
• March 10 & 11 (one-on-one consultation with thesis students)
• April 21 & 22 (public reviews)

Additionally, Halsband will deliver a public lecture on February 11.

Photograph Copyright AIArchitect http://www.aia.org/aiarchitect/thisweek07/0202/0202dp.cfm

The School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at the University of Maryland is home to four academic disciplines: architecture, urban planning, historic preservation and real estate development. Committed to educating its students and community about the importance of sustainability, adaptive reuse and universal design, the School practices an interdisciplinary approach to education, research, creative work, and community and professional service. For more information, please e-mail us or call 301.405.8000.

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