In presenting the nomination of David McKinley FAIA to receive the AIA Seattle Medal to the AIA Seattle Board of Directors in March 1999, Honors Nominating Committee Chair Jennie Sue Brown FAIA offered this statement, drawn from an impressive assembly of testimonials offered by Dave's colleagues, including Medallists Phil Jacobson FAIA (1994), Wendell Lovett FAIA (1993), Arne Bystrom FAIA (1998), and John Morse FAIA (1996) and others:

"Long recognized as a primary contributor to Northwest design, Dave McKinley with his partner Paul Hayden Kirk FAIA* did much to establish and develop our region's modern design directions.

"The consistent brilliance of his architectural designs during an unusually comprehensive career stands out. His work spans the great distance from small beautifully crafted houses to skyscrapers, and from efficient commercial and military structures to projects with important historic and urban connotations.

"David has committed his life to raising the professional standards for architecture in our region and in the national arena. He has a passion for architecture, and his forward thinking seeks the advancement of the practice.

"The Jeannette and David McKinley Endowment at the University of Washington manifests the visionary ideal of the future of the environmental design fields which Dave has long advocated and urged on his professional colleagues."

Addressing Dave McKinley in presenting this honor, AIA Seattle's then-President Jim Suehiro AIA added, "As I can personally attest, your ideas and the example of your professional dedication have deeply influenced many people. In Seattle and throughout our region, structures bearing the imprint of your hand accommodate and enrich the experience of people in all manner of human endeavor - family life and business, worship and learning, culture and recreation. Given your commitment to future thinking, it seems particularly appropriate that your colleagues honor you in this year, as we look out over the precipice of a new millennium."

Notes:
* the firm Kirk Wallace McKinley
* Dave McKinley served as AIA Seattle President in 1966.