Bio:
The great architect, Dr. Sharon Egretta Sutton, FAIA is visiting professor at Parsons School of Design and adjunct professor at Columbia University. She also served on the faculties of Pratt Institute, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Michigan, and the University of Washington. The 12th black woman in the United States to be licensed as an architect, Dr. Sutton is a fellow in the American Institute of Architects and a distinguished professor of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture.

How did you first learn about architecture and when did you decide that built environment profession was an area of interest for you?
I learned about architecture when I rented an apartment in a brownstone that I had renovated to an architect, who said “you should be an architect.”  I was about 25 years old and was working as a classical musician.

What do you do?
I have been a professor for 43 years. I have  taught professional students in architecture, urban planning, landscape architecture, and interior design, and have supervised PhD students in architecture, urban planning, social welfare, and education.

What excites you in the work you do?
Advocating for whoever is “one down” in a situation: youth, students, women, blacks, poor people, people of color, immigrants, the homeless, the incarcerated.

Who or what inspires you professionally?
My students and all young people.
 
What is your proudest professional accomplishment or achievement?
Becoming the first African American women to be promoted to full professor of architecture--and at the University of Michigan where promotions were hard-earned. Also  my dossier was 1 of 12 presented to the regents as exemplary models of achievement.
 

Object:

Object Five - Alternative career, volunteer work with organizations not directly connected with the built environment, or service to society

 

Year of Elevation: 

1995

Featured Project Name: 
The Urban Network
 
Featured Project Location: 
The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
 
Featured Project Completion Date: 
1997

Role in Featured Project: 
Founding Director
 
Featured Project Description:
Based at the University of Michigan, the Urban Network was a national outreach program that enables youth to learn about and positively influence the physical environment of their school and neighborhood. Funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, it offered instructional materials, site visits, and teacher development workshops to K-8 teachers internationally from 1988 until 1997.

Photography Credit:
Sharon E. Sutton