Career StagesYAF Advisory Committtee

Jennifer Workman, AIA, is a licensed architect for Good Fulton & Farrell Architects in Dallas, Texas. Jennifer received a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Texas at Austin and focused her studies on various museums throughout the world. These early analysis assisted her when she was selected by GFF to work alongside Morphosis Architects on the design of the new Perot Museum of Nature & Science in their Los Angeles office. Following almost two years in California, she returned to Dallas, Texas to work on the construction site of the iconic museum.

Aside from the museum, Jennifer’s most important contributions to the profession have come in the form of her volunteer work for the AIA at the local, state, and national levels. In Dallas, Jennifer has devoted her time to the Dallas Tour of Homes, Publications Committee, Honors Committee, and Publicity Committee. She has served as a chair on the Associates Committee, the Young Architects Forum, and the Ken Roberts Delineation Competition which is one of the longest architectural drawing competitions in the world. At the Texas Society of Architects she served four straight years as a voting board member as the Dallas Director and the Texas Regional Associates Director to the National Associates Committee. She also served on the jury for the Texas Architectural Foundation and was involved with the Membership Services Committee, Honors Committee, the Continuing Education Committee, and served as a Publicity Committee Chair for the TSA Convention in Dallas in 2011. Nationally, Jennifer is serving as the 2012 Chair of the Young Architects Forum. She has been involved with the YAF since 2009 when she became the Communications Advisor acting as the editor for the bi-monthly publication which was sent to over 22,000 members.

Bradley 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.

Adam W. Palmer, AIA, is a Project Manager and Associate with Schmidt Associates, Inc., in Indianapolis, Indiana. Adam is a registered Architect in the State of Indiana (2002). Adam received both his Bachelors of Environmental Design (1995) and his Bachelors of Architecture (1997) from Ball State University. Adam maintains his NCARB Certification and is a LEED Accredited Professional.

Adam has been fortunate to have had opportunities to practice architecture in a variety of firm types, sizes and disciplines. Adam has also worked on a variety of building types and sizes, including primarily health care and education projects. The projects have ranged from a few hundred square foot renovations to multi-story, thousands of square foot, new construction projects. These various projects have provided him opportunities to also serve a variety of roles as an architect for his clients including: master planner, designer, project Architect, project manager, program manager and owners representative.

Adam's primary interests rest in mentoring, leadership, licensure, practice management and technology.

Adam has served on the local level as the President Elect of the Central Kentucky Chapter prior to moving to Indianapolis. In Indianapolis he is currently serving as a Delegate for the Indianapolis Chapter. At the regional and national level, Adam served the Young Architects Forum (YAF) as their Regional Liaison to the Ohio Valley Region for four years. Adam then went on to serve as the 2010 Vice-Chair and subsequently the 2011 Chair of the YAF National Advisory Committee. During his tenure as the YAF Chair, he served as a juror for various awards. Adam has also served on the Board of Directors for a variety of organizations outside of the AIA.

Deepika Padam, AIA, LEED AP, is a Senior Designer/Project Manager with Heller Manus Architects at San Francisco, CA. Her previous professional experience is with the firms of Neelkanth Chhaya, Payette Associates, Perlman Architects, and Tate Snyder Kimsey in varied roles of Designer, Architect, Project Manager, and Sustainability Director. Her design experience includes civic, educational, public, commercial, and mixed-use facilities. She is passionate about green building and is responsible for LEED Certification of multiple projects. Deepika received her Bachelor of Architecture from the Guru Nanak Dev University and Master of Architecture from the University of Michigan. She is NCARB certified.

Deepika served as the AIA Las Vegas President in 2010, the first woman to serve as President with the Chapter. She served as the USGBC Nevada President in 2009 and taught LEED classes for many years. Deepika is the Founder and Past Chair for AIA Las Vegas Emerging Professionals/Young Architects Forum. She has Chaired many committees and initiatives with local chapters of AIA and USGBC. She has organized educational workshops at regional level, and regularly sits on design juries for architecture schools. Deepika is the Communications Advisor for AIA National Young Architects Forum, serving as the Editor for YAF Connection bimonthly e-magazine and the annual Young Architects Award Book. Deepika was awarded the AIA Nevada Associate Award in 2007 and the AIA Nevada Young Architect Award in 2008. She has been named Who’s Who of Las Vegas by In Business and featured in the Las Vegas Business Press.

Deepika is interested in increasing the global ties of AIA and her professional life while staying connected with her passion for design excellence. She plans to devote more time to community initiatives at San Francisco. She enjoys blogging, participating in design juries, and making presentations.

Virginia E. Marquardt, AIA, LEED AP, CDT, is an architect at DLR Group’s Santa Monica, California office with 14 years of experience leading educational, justice, and municipality teams as a project manager and project architect. Throughout Virginia’s career she has felt it important to give back to the profession by serving on numerous AIA boards and committees, at a local, state, regional, and national level. She has held leadership positions at the local level as AIA-Phoenix Metro’s Associate Director, Emerging Professional Director, YAF Committee Chair, Board of Director, Secretary and Treasurer and has been a member of Architecture Week, Membership and Advocates committees. At the regional level, she was AIA-Western Mountain Region’s Young Architect Regional Director from August 2007-2011. In 2009, Virginia was asked to serve on the sub-committee for the 2010 AIA-National Convention Education Committee reviewing abstracts and in 2010 as the Emerging Professional representative for AIA’s Center for Integrated Practice Leadership. Currently, she is serving as the 2012-2013 Events Advisor for AIA National Young Architects Forum’s Advisory Committee and sits on the AIA-National’s Education Committee.

Virginia strives to share her passion for architecture with others and will always be an advocate for future architects and our profession. In Arizona she was a mentor to Scottsdale high school students through Students: by Design (2010) and is currently mentoring Santa Monica area high school students through the ACE mentoring program (2011). She has been a guest lector for Arizona State University’s School of Architecture + Landscape Architecture’s “Summer Internship” seminar (2010) and a presenter / moderator for the Young Architects’ presentations at the Western Mountain Region’s Conferences (2008-2011)

She holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the Louisiana Tech University (cum laude) and is a licensed professional in Arizona as well as a LEED accredited professional and Construction Document Technologist (CDT).

Virginia is the recipient of AIA-Arizona’s Young Architects Citation Award (2009) and AIA-Western Mountain Regions’ Jason Pettigrew Associate AIA Memorial Leadership Scholarship, (2005).

Matthew M. Dumich, AIA, is a licensed Architect and project manager with Valerio Dewalt Train Associates in Chicago. His ten years of professional experience includes a range of commercial, residential and mixed-use buildings and interior 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 from the UWM School of Architecture and Urban Planning.

He currently serves on the AIA Chicago Board of Directors and the AIA National Young Architects Forum (YAF) Advisory Committee. In 2011 he was appointed by the AIA National President to Chair the AIA National Membership Marketing Task Force focusing on engaging young, emerging professional members. Matt is the founder of the AIA Chicago Bridge mentoring program and the AIA Illinois Council for Emerging Professionals.

Matt also advises PechaKucha Night Chicago (PKN) by recommending emerging young Architects to share their ideas and work. He is frequently invited to speak about architecture and design at local, state and national conferences. Matt was recognized for his leadership with the 2011 Building Design + Construction 40 Under 40 award.

Joseph R. Benesh, AIA, NCARB, CDT, LEED AP, is currently a K-12 Focus Market Leader and Project Manager for RDG Planning + Design in Des Moines, Iowa. In this role, Joe is responsible for the design, documentation, and overall project management of buildings spanning a variety of sizes and complexities. He actively participates in marketing and project leads, develops presentations, fosters and nurtures client relationships, facilitates project scheduling and budgeting, as well as bidding and construction administration.

Joe has been actively involved in AIA member groups and initiatives for more than twelve years, serving in a variety of leadership positions at the local, state, and regional levels. He will serve as the 2012 AIA Iowa Director of Public Relations and the Young Architects Forum Public Relations Advisor. In 2010 Joe promoted the addition of a large subsection of the AIA Miami website redesign to Emerging Professionals. Joe has also held leadership positions with the AIA National Associates Committee.

Joe received his Bachelor of Architecture from Iowa State University. He holds an NCARB certificate and is currently licensed in Illinois and Florida.

Jason Dale Pierce, AIA, LEED AP, currently sits on the Young Architects Forum Advisory Committee as the YAF Regional Liaison Advisor. Jason received his Professional Architecture degree from Drury University in Springfield, Missouri. He is a member of the AIA Practice Management Knowledge Community and sits on the editorial board for aecKnowledge. He recently served as Co-Chair of the AIA San Francisco Mentorship Committee and chaired the Long Range Planning committee for AIA California Council in 2010. He also served as Vice President of the Academy of Emerging Professionals with AIA California Council from 2008 through 2009. A former recipient of the National Jason Pettigrew Memorial ARE Scholarship and honored with the AIA San Francisco's Associate of the Year Award in 2008, Jason also served as the YAF regional Director for Central States from 2003 through 2005.

As a project architect with HOK in St. Louis, Jason is currently working on the modernization of the Byron G. Rogers Federal office building with the United States General Services Administration in Denver, Colorado. Jason strongly believes in strengthening mentorship in the profession and strives to develop this need in everything he does from his day to day work with his project team, his involvement in his local AIA chapter all the way up through his position on the National YAF Advisory Committee.

William J. Stanley, FAIA

Wendy Ornelas, FAIA, is associate dean and professor at the college of architecture, planning anddesign at Kansas State University. She and her husband, Robert Condia –a professor in the department of architecture at Kansas State – also have a firm, Condia+ Ornelas Architects, with offices in Manhattan, Kans., and San Diego. The firm does small commercial projects, limiting themselves to one a year. The list of Kansas projects includes della Voce, remodeling a Manhattan retail space into a restaurant (2007); Gaia Hair SalonSpa, a design-build project in Manhattan with Acropolis Modern (2004); renovation of a 1901 building in Marysville for the Sunflower U.P. Credit Union (2002); and Mercado, a gourmet grocery store in Manhattan in collaboration with Dale Wunderlick and Chris Fila (2000).

Wendy earned a bachelor‘s of science in architecture from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California, before moving to Stillwater, Okla., to earn a BArch and MArch from Oklahoma State University.

She has been a member of the AIA since 1984; for the past five years, she has participated on the AIA Kansas, AIA Flint Hills, and the Central States region‘s emerging professionals committees. She was president of AIA Kansas (2001), after having been elected its secretary (1999), treasurer (1998), and director (1997). In 2006, she received the Henry W. Schirmer Distinguished Service Award from AIA Kansas.

Wendy is also active with the AIA‘s collateral organization, the National Architectural

Accrediting Board (NAAB), as its president (2009-2010; board member 2007-2010). She participated in the 2008 NAAB Accreditation Review Conference, and chaired its Assessment and Evaluation Committee (2008-2009). Wendy was on the writing team for the 2009 NAAB Conditions for Accreditation (2008-2009), and served as chair or was a member of eight accreditation, nomenclature change, or focused evaluation teams for the NAAB. In 2008, she was appointed by her state‘s governor to serve as one of the three architecture representatives on the Kansas State Board of Technical Professions. Wendy served the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) as West Central Regional Director (2003-2006).

Erin Murphy, AIA, LEED AP, is a Director for the AIA Center for Emerging Professionals. Erin is a staff liaison to the AIA National Associates Committee (NAC) and the AIA Young Architects Forum (YAF). She also identifies and researches trends regarding the path to licensure and integrates this knowledge into programs, initiatives, and advocacy efforts for emerging professionals.

Erin previously worked as a Project Architect at Bowie Gridley Architects in Washington, DC, and as a Project Manager and Staff Architect for Robert A.M. Stern Architects, LLP in New York. Erin earned a Bachelor of Architecture from Syracuse University’s School of Architecture.