Steve Beede
Market Development Manager
Lutron Electronics Co., Inc.

Steve Beede is the Market Development Manager at Lutron Electronics Co., Inc., where he where he leads the company's initiative to develop light control solutions for the K-12 and higher education markets. His work is focused on establishing light control as a viable solution to reduce energy costs, improve the learning environment and support the local community.

Prior to his current position, Beede was a Senior Sales Representative in New York's commercial specification market. He holds a BS in Ocean Engineering from the United States Naval Academy, and served 6 years as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy.

Ronald E. Bogle, Hon. AIA
President & CEO
American Architectural Foundation, Washington, D.C.

Ron Bogle has been President and CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based American Architectural Foundation (AAF) since 2002. At the AAF his efforts are focused on creating and sustaining programs to identify and advance best practices for the design of livable communities across the country.

Bogle created and leads Great Schools by Design, a national AAF program that provides resources to local community and educational leaders engaged in K-12 school facility design and construction. In addition, he is the managing partner of the Mayors’ Institute on City Design, co-sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and AAF. It provides innovative resources to mayors across the country about city planning and design.

Ron was made an Honorary AIA member earlier this year. The AIA bestows this title on individuals who, although not architects by profession, have given distinguished service to the profession of architecture.

Pat Bosch
Design Director, Perkins + Will, Miami

Patricia Bosch has been with Perkins + Wills’ Miami office since it opened in 1996, and serves as its lead design director. She has over twenty years of experience in the field of architecture, with expertise in hospitality, corporate headquarters, mixed-use facilities, K-12 schools, libraries, higher education facilities, science & technology buildings, and master planning. She is co-chair of Perkins + Wills’ excellence in design initiative.

She is known for her collaborative skills and ability to bring help diverse constituencies find common ground and generate design ideas. Among the projects that she has designed are the City of Miami Beach Multi-purpose City Hall Annex, the Caribbean Technology Center, and the expansion and renovation of the historic Hotel Victor in South Beach, Florida.

Pat has a Technology Diploma from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, a Master of Architecture from Columbia University, and a Bachelor in Design from the University of Puerto Rico.  She is an adjunct professor at two schools of architecture, the University of Miami and Florida International University.

Elizabeth Corless Davis, IIDA
Director, eVision Environmental Strategy

Elizabeth Davis brings more than 20 years experience in design and management to her role as Director of eVision Environmental Strategy for PolyVision.

She joined Steelcase International in Australia in 1989 where she held several management positions including Managing Director of Steelcase Australia.

Joining PolyVision® in 2004, Elizabeth spearheaded the company’s green initiative, overseeing third-party certification programs for PolyVision products and heading up the launch of e3 environmental ceramicsteel™, the world’s only ecologically intelligent writing surface. This work culminated in the creation and implementation of eVision™, PolyVision’s corporate environmental guidelines, which form the foundation of environmental stewardship throughout the company.

Brad Dilbeck
Product Manager, EFCO Corporation

Brad Dilbeck started his career at EFCO and in the commercial fenestration industry in 1991.  Brad has held many different positions during his time at EFCO from fabrication, technical applications to design engineering.  Currently, Brad's role at EFCO is Product Manager for Storefronts, Entrances and Curtain Walls where he is responsible for creating new products to serve customers needs and the needs of industry.  Brad is active in many trade and manufacturing organizations including AAMA. 

Rachel Gutter
School Sector Manager
U.S. Green Building Council

As the School Sector Manager for the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), Rachel Gutter works on a national level to promote and facilitate the construction of high performance, green schools. She oversees USGBC’s National Green School Campaign as well as the LEED for Schools Green Building Rating System®, USGBC’s market-specific guidelines that recognize the unique nature and educational aspects of the design and construction of K-12 educational facilities. Rachel presents at conferences and conventions around the country, educating stakeholders and the public on the value of building sustainable schools.

Rachel’s recent experience in the fields of green building consulting and high performance educational design includes her work with the Green Building Program of Montgomery County Public Schools – one of the only school systems in the country to mandate green school construction. Rachel has six years of teaching experience and K-12 curriculum development. Rachel received her Bachelor of Arts from Tufts University.

Stephen A. Jones
Senior Director
McGraw-Hill Construction

Steve leads McGraw-Hill’s initiatives in Virtual Design and Construction, Building Information Modeling, Interoperability and Integrated Project Delivery as well as developing alliance relationships with major companies for technology and content. Before joining McGraw-Hill, Steve was a Vice President with Primavera Systems, the world’s leading provider of project management software. Prior to that, Steve spent 19 years in a variety of design and management roles with Architecture firms. Most recently he was a Principal and Board of Directors member with Burt Hill, one of the world’s largest A/E/I firms. Steve holds an MBA from Wharton and a BA from Johns Hopkins.

Kerry Leonard
Principal and Senior Educational Planner at OWP/P

... has been nationally recognized for his leadership in education architecture. His expertise in working with clients to create inspiring places for children to learn is supported by 28 years of experience. He has led school districts through the decision-making process, planning, programming, and referendum phases of school buildings. He has been involved in all aspects of work related to educational facilities, including strategic and master planning, programming, renovations, additions and new construction of schools.

Leonard is Immediate Past Chairperson of the American Institute of Architects Committee on Architecture for Education (CAE), and has been serving on the Leadership Group of the CAE for five years.

OWP/P, an architectural and engineering firm in Chicago and Phoenix, has served the education community since its founding in 1958.

Charles Linn, FAIA
Deputy Editor, Architectural Record
Consulting Editor, GreenSource magazine

Charles graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture from Kansas State University in 1978, and practiced architecture until early 1986, when he became the founding editor of Architectural Lighting magazine.

He joined Architectural Record in 1990, serving as editor of its Record Lighting magazine and its editor-at-large for the Northwest region. In 1993 he moved to New York to become a managing senior editor for the magazine. He has written and edited hundreds of articles on every aspect of building design, architectural technology, and firm management.

In 2005 Charles became deputy editor of Record. He leads the editorial development of Architectural Record’s Innovation Conference, now in its sixth year. In 2006 he was a leader in the launch of McGraw-Hill Construction’s new GreenSource magazine and website, as well as Schools of the 21st Century, Record’s annual publication, website, and symposium for the K-12 school market. He is also editor of Record’s monthly Practice Matters column and website, and manages Record’s news department.

He is a member of the architectural honorary society, Tau Sigma Delta, and was elected to the American Institute of Architects’ College of Fellows in 2002. He was named a Distinguished Alumni Fellow by Kansas State University in 1993, and is a member of the KSU Department of Architecture’s professional advisory board. He has been a member of editorial teams that have won numerous American Business Media Awards for excellence in business journalism, Folio Awards for editorial excellence, and five McGraw-Hill Corporate Achievement Awards.

Kenneth D. Nielsen
Owner
Midwest Financial Group

I completed a four year apprentice program in carpentry. I worked as a journey carpenter for Ben Sears Construction Co and for Arnold Pederson Construction Co. In addition to my employment I built an addition for a home owner and did other remodeling projects. I served as the construction manager for the congregation of a church during the construction of their building. On another commercial building project, I was the working supervisor for the installation of 17,000 sq. feet of floor tile and 12,000 sq. feet of acoustical ceiling tile.                                                                                                                                            

My present business involves consulting with small and medium size business owners regarding their employee and executive benefit programs. I also consult with business owners with the formulation of a business continuation and key employee benefits program. I help individuals with their estate planning as well.

I have served on the District 25 school board for eleven years. We have added to four of our nine buildings during my time on the board. I have served on the construction committee for three of those buildings. Our school district is located in Arlington Heights, Illinois

Kenneth Roy, PhD
Senior Principal Research Scientist,
Armstrong Ceiling Systems

Employed by Armstrong Building Products in Lancaster, PA, with R&D responsibilities for acoustic technologies worldwide.  Activities include architectural research, teaching programs, and both national and international standards participation. Current focus is on architectural building products R&D involving sound systems and architectural design as affects both speech privacy and speech intelligibility in buildings.  Specific research topics include architectural modeling and auralization of design spaces, speech intelligibility in schools, speech privacy design in office and healthcare, and acoustic effects on knowledge worker productivity. 

Previously with Owens-Corning Technical Center in Granville, Ohio, and prior to that with the Acoustical Consulting firm of P.S. Veneklasen Consultants in Santa Monica, California.  Ph.D. in Acoustics and M.S. degree in Architectural Engineering both from Penn State, and B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maine at Orono. 

Laura Viscusi
Vice President, Integrated Media, McGraw-Hill Construction
Publisher, Architectural Record and Schools of the 21st Century

Laura is responsible for developing both product and strategies to advance the growth of McGraw-Hill Construction’s media brands, which include Architectural Record, Engineering News-Record, GreenSource, Constructor and eleven regional construction publications.  Her responsibilities cover all communication platforms, including print, online and events

Under Viscusi’s leadership, Architectural Record – the magazine of The American Institute of Architects – has gone from 12 issues a year to a multi-media platform of brand extensions which include archrecord.com, events such as the Innovation Conference, and timely vertical publications focusing on active markets, such as school design.