Career StagesYAF Advisory Committtee

Adam Palmer, AIA, is a ’97 graduate (B. Arch) of the architecture program at Ball State University. Adam is NCARB certified and is a LEED AP BD+C, but Adam is first and foremost a husband and a father of two.

Starting his career at a small healthcare focused traditional architecture firm in Southern Indiana. This started his career to be primarily healthcare focused. In the traditional architectural role he has worked on all aspects of the building process, from business development to design through construction. He has also served as the owner’s representative during time he worked for a healthcare program management firm.

Adam is currently an Associate with Schmidt Associates in Indianapolis, where he is fortunate enough to have the opportunity to simultaneously wear all the hats that he has worn in all his previous work experiences. With Schmidt Associates he also has opportunity to experience some project types outside of healthcare.

Adam’s AIA experience has included regional service as the YAF Regional Liaison for the Ohio Valley Region for four years. He also has been involved with his local chapters in Indiana, Indianapolis, and Kentucky. He served a term as the Central Kentucky Chapter President-elect prior to moving to Indianapolis.

Jennifer A. Workman, AIA, graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Texas at Austin and began her career in Dallas, Texas, with Good Fulton & Farrell Architects. Jennifer's experience is in institutional and commercial projects, but since 2007, her main focus has been the Perot Museum of Nature & Science where her firm is the consulting architect to Morphosis. Her time is divided between Morphosis' office in Santa Monica, CA, and Dallas, where the museum is under construction and to be completed in 2012.

 Jennifer's leadership with the AIA began at the local level as the Associate Chair to the Dallas AIA and recognized the need for emerging professionals to have a voice on committees and boards. She dedicated much of her time time to the committees for the Home Tour, Honor Awards, and Publications, and reinstated the previously dormant Young Architects Forum (YAF). Jennifer also served at the state level on the Membership Services and Honor Awards Committees, was a voting board member to the Texas Society of Architects as the Regional Associate Director, and is currently the Dallas Director to TSA. Her involvement at the national level has been as a past member of the National Associates Committee, the Communications Chair in the National Young Architects Forum and editor for Connection, the quarterly YAF publication.

Sean Stadler, AIA, LEED AP, currently serves as Design Principal and is an Associate Principal of the firm WDG Architecture.  He focuses on elevating the firm’s stature in design, with particular emphasis on enhancing the civic realm in redeveloping communities.  Sean has championed the pursuit of complex, high-profile urban projects, bolstering WDG’s reputation for designing distinctive, high-rise structures with New-Urbanist sensitivity.   Mr. Stadler’s diverse experience includes commercial, residential, educational, sporting and medical facilities. He holds senior responsibilities for strategic planning; design oversight; project management; marketing; recruiting and hiring, and has helped to develop the firm’s mentoring program.

An active member of the design community, Mr. Stadler has been a panel speaker, moderator, and presenter at events such as the AIA National Convention; he has served as an awards juror for programs such as the AIA Institute Honors and Awards; and he has frequently served as a design critic for both Kent State and the Catholic University of America’s Architecture Schools. Sean is currently the 2010 Chair of the AIA National Young Architects Forum (YAF) Advisory Committee and has served as the AIA National Intern/Associate Committee Chairman (NAC) and the AIA Cleveland Chapter Associate Director.  Mr. Stadler was honored in Cleveland with an AIA Presidents Award for his service to the profession and was selected as one of Building Design + Construction magazine’s winners of the 2009 “40 Under 40” competition where he was recognized as one of the ”rising young stars of the AEC industry”.

Matthew Dumich, AIA, is a licensed architect with Valerio Dewalt Train Associates. VDTA is a high energy national architectural practice with offices in Chicago and Palo Alto. The firm serves corporate, institutional and private clients from coast to coast. Matt’s recent work includes several new commercial, residential, and mixed-use high-rise projects.

Matt holds Bachelor and Master degrees in Architecture from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee (UWM) and serves on the Board of Trustees for the UWM Alumni Association. In 2008 he was honored with the Graduate of the Last Decade (GOLD) Award for the UWM School of Architecture and Urban Planning.

Matt is the past Chairman of the AIA Chicago - Young Architects Forum, a group dedicated to promoting design quality, professional development, and networking for Chicago design and construction professionals. In 2009 he helped develop BRIDGE, a mentoring program that pairs Young Architects with Fellows of the AIA. The participants in the BRIDGE program work collectively to discuss increasing the visibility and participation of architects in community groups and non-profit organizations. Matt was recognized with a Presidential Citation from AIA Chicago for his role organizing this program.

Additionally, Matt advises PechaKucha Night Chicago (PKN) by recommending emerging young Architects to share their ideas and work. He and the PKN Chicago organizers recently shared their experiences sparking a public dialog about design and creativity in a presentation at the AIA Grassroots Leadership Conference in Washington DC. 

Matt is also an award-winning photographer who enjoys documenting his travels including recent trips to England, France, Spain and China.

Brad Benjamin, AIA, is an architect and the founder of Radium Architecture, a firm in Greenville, SC, which works to bring purpose to the built environment by designing more sustainable & socially responsible places. He graduated from Clemson University with a Bachelor of Science in Design, a Bachelor of Science in Construction Science and Management, and a Masters of Architecture.

Brad has consistently demonstrated exceptional initiative, enthusiasm, and commitment on the local, state, regional, and national levels for the AIA. He has served on the National Associates Committee, the AIA Board Knowledge Committee, the Strategic Planning Advance, the Emerging Professionals Companion Advisory Committee, and the YAF 15 Summit committee. He currently serves as state IDP Coordinator and Past President for AIA Greenville. Brad is a previous recipient of the AIA’s Associate Member of the Year Award.

Keenly aware of the importance of architecture in his community’s growth and development, Brad has made a personal commitment to lend his creative talents and problem solving abilities to many local community boards and organizations to which he serves as an exceptional representative of his profession. He serves on the United Way, Leadership Greenville Board of Regents, Pecha Kucha Night Grenville, and Architecture for Humanity Greenville.

Deepika Padam, AIA, is an award-winning Architect working with Tate Snyder Kimsey based in Henderson, Nevada. Her versatile roles at Tate Snyder Kimsey vary from Designer, Architect, and Manager to Sustainability Expert. Her major projects include a US Land Port of Entry, a police station, a transit shelter, a high school, a counseling & child development center, utility services building, couple park projects, justice center renovations, community college facilities, and a university teaching lab.

Deepika impacted the lives of many young architects and interns by forming the Emerging Professionals / Young Architects Forum in Las Vegas in 2008. She has served on the Board of Directors of AIA Las Vegas since January 2007 and served as the Chapter President for 2010. She is a Board Member with AIA Nevada and the IDP Auxiliary Coordinator for the Chapter. She represents the architecture profession in the USGBC membership through her involvement with the leadership of Nevada Chapter. She has been a Board Member with USGBC Nevada since 2004 and served as the USGBC Nevada Chapter President in 2009. Deepika was awarded the AIA Nevada Associate Award in 2007 and the AIA Nevada Young Architect Award in 2008. She has been named as one of the Who’s Who of Las Vegas for 2010 by In Business.

Derek C. Webb, AIA, is a senior associate at m ARCHITECTS in Houston, Texas.  A graduate of Texas Tech University, Derek earned master’s degrees in architecture and business. At m ARCHITECTS, Derek oversees much of the firm’s civic and institutional projects. His work has garnered multiple awards at the local and national level, and has been exhibited at the Texas Society of Architects annual convention and at AIA national headquarters.

Derek’s involvement with the AIA began as the Vice Chair of the Houston Young Architect’s Forum in 2007, and subsequently serving as Chair in 2008.  During both terms, Derek was instrumental in introducing multiple mentorship initiatives; most notably CONNECT which he presented as a case study at the AIA Conventions in Boston and San Francisco.  Derek’s current role for the YAF Advisory Committee is as Public Relations Advisor.  At the local level Derek has served as a design critic at the University of Houston College of Architecture, and sits on steering committees for the Houston Architecture Foundation and the Rice Design Alliance.

Jason Dale Pierce, AIA, LEED AP, is the current Young Architects Forum Regional Liaison Advisor and member of the 2011 YAF Advisory Committee. A project architect with HOK, Jason recently transferred to HOK's St. Louis office via San Francisco where he is currently working on the modernization of the Byron G. Rogers Federal office building with the United States General Services Administration. Jason recently served as Co-Chair of the AIASF Mentorship Committee and chaired the Long Range Planning committee for AIA California Council in 2010.  He served as Vice President of the Academy of Emerging Professionals with AIACC from 2008 through 2009.  Jason was a former recipient of the National Jason Pettigrew Memorial ARE Scholarship and received the AIA San Francisco's Associate of the Year Award in 2008.he received the 2009 AIA Nevada Young Architect Award for his service to the profession.

William J. Stanley, FAIA

Paul Mankins, FAIA, LEED AP, began his career in the office of Charles Herbert & Associates – Iowa’s most celebrated design practice. Following graduate studies at Yale University and professional stints with Smith Miller + Hawkinson in New York City and Kaplan McLaughlin Diaz in San Francisco, he returned to Iowa in 1991 working with Herbert Lewis Kruse Blunck Architecture where he was named a Principal in 1999. In 2004, he and his partners formed substance - a nationally recognized collaborative design practice engaged in architecture, interior architecture, and design. He holds architectural degrees from Iowa State University (B.A. with Distinction, 1985) and Yale University (MArch, 1991) and is the recipient of a research grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts (1992).

Since returning to Iowa Mr. Mankins has directed the design of projects recognized with over thirty five Honor and Merit Awards for design from the Central States Region, Iowa, and San Francisco Chapters of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). In addition, he received a national AIA Honor Award for Architecture 2002 for the Meredith Corporation Expansion and Interiors as well as recognition in national design awards programs sponsored by Architecture, Architectural Record/Business Week, Contract, I.D. (International Design), Interior Design and Residential Architect magazines. His work has been published widely and he is a frequent speaker and design awards juror.

As a supplement to his design practice Mr. Mankins has tirelessly contributed his time and leadership to the profession. In 2008 he was elected to the National Board of Directors of the AIA guiding policy for over 83,000 members nationwide. He served on the Board of Directors for the Iowa Chapter of the AIA as well from 1994 through 2000, leading that organization as President in 1999. He contributed to the Chapter’s acclaimed publication, Iowa Architect, from 1987 to 1997, serving as Editor-in-Chief from 1994 through 1997. As a result of his leadership and vision, Iowa Architect was recognized as the outstanding component publication in the nation by the AIA in 1995 for its coverage of architecture and urban design in the Midwest. He has served as a Trustee for the Iowa Architectural Foundation, a non-profit organization advancing architectural issues to the general public, and currently serves as President and Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation.

In addition to these professional activities, Mr. Mankins has dedicated considerable energy toward architectural education helping to shape and guide the next generation of practitioners. Since 1998 he has served as an Adjunct Instructor teaching Architectural Design in the Department of Architecture at Iowa State University where he has also served as a member of the Department's Professional Advisory Board. In 2008 he was selected to represent the profession on the National Architectural Accreditation Board’s Visiting Teams which evaluate architectural degree programs across the United States. He served on the 2010 AIA Education Honor Awards jury as well. In 1998 he received the Design Achievement Award from Iowa State University's College of Design in recognition of his contribution to architecture, design, and education – he is among the youngest Architecture alumni to ever receive this award.

In recognition of these and other accomplishments Mr. Mankins received the 2003 Young Architects Award from the AIA. He is one of only 50 practitioners recognized in the fifteen year history of the award and the first Iowan to receive this recognition. In 2004, at the age of 40, Mr. Mankins was elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects – an honor reserved for just 3% of AIA members.

Kevin A. Fitzgerald, AIA, PMP, has over ten years experience as a practicing architect. Prior to joining AIA National, Mr. Fitzgerald was an Associate at Robert A.M. Stern Architects in New York, where he worked as a project manager, staff coordinator and team leader on a variety of building and planning projects. For the past six years he has been mentoring interns and teaching seminars on the Intern Development Program and Architect Registration Exam.

 As Director for Emerging Professionals at AIA National Mr. Fitzgerald works with the Young Architects Forum, the National Associates Committee, the American Institute of Architects Students, AIA components and collateral organizations to advance emerging professionals issues and initiatives. He also helped develop the AIA’s new Center for Emerging Professionals.