Clark D. Manus, FAIA, CEO of Heller Manus Architects, was inaugurated as the 87th president of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) during ceremonies held on December 17th. He succeeds George H. Miller, FAIA, in representing the nearly 80,000 AIA members.
"This is our time to demonstrate the value of design in every community in spite of challenging times for the architecture profession," said Manus. "I look forward to promoting the integrative 'power of design' in forging a coherent whole that balances seemingly conflicting issues. Stitching together communities by design-city, country, villages-to form mutually supportive agendas is the future of the globe. From an advocacy standpoint, I want to champion the need to evolve from looking at singular building designs to broader thinking about how buildings relate more effectively to their surroundings communities and the regional perspective."
Manus served as AIA National Vice President; chairing the Board Advocacy Committee and the 2010-2015 Strategic Plan following service as a Board of Director. He chaired the AIA/USGBC Task Force to best utilize joint resources and the AIA150 Blueprint for America Mosaic. In his hometown and state, he was a former AIA San Francisco President and two-time AIA California Council Board of Director. Manus has long stressed and acted on the importance of industry alliances as well as engaging emerging professionals in leadership.
In San Francisco, his extensive community/urban design leadership and public contribution for two decades emerged following the 1989 earthquake. He chaired successive Mayoral Citizen Advisory Committees facilitating the instrumental reclamation of the Central Embarcadero and enabling the downtown Rincon Hill and Transbay Districts to be catalysts for new residential neighborhoods. Manus is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Design, and the University at Buffalo, School of Environmental Design.