I have the honor to inform our Northwest & Pacific Region colleagues of AIA Seattle's nomination of Norm Strong AIA for election to the position of Director, AIA Northwest & Pacific Region.

At our meeting on February 20, the AIA Seattle Board of Directors unanimously approved a resolution to offer this outstanding candidate for consideration by our colleagues at the August 2002 Region Conference at Tacoma.

Norm's AIA service has well prepared him to take on the portfolio of duties borne in this position. A native of Idaho and a WSU graduate, he has long-standing and current connections throughout the Region. As immediate Past President of AIA Seattle, he has carried liaison assignments to the AIA Washington Council Board of Directors, the AIA Northwest & Pacific Region Board of Directors and the Planning & Finance Committee, and the Seattle Architectural Foundation Board of Trustees. In his AIA Seattle leadership, he has advanced synergy among both AIA components and the allied design and building organizations. He has taken an activist role in design education, as a member of the WSU Advisory Council and a contributor to practitioner programming at the UW College of Architecture & Urban Planning. He regularly attends Region Conferences.

In addition, his reputation as a practice leader among his colleagues both in the Region and nationally will help sustain and advance the strength and credibility of the Region in the ongoing national dialog of our organization. Since he came to the Miller/Hull Partnership in 1979, the firm has grown from 3 employees to 40, and has garnered national recognition for design achievement. As a partner since 1985, he has helped craft a practice committed to design excellence and the advancement of Northwest regional design, as documented in the 2001 publication Miller/Hull, Architects of the Pacific Northwest, by Sheri Olson AIA.

AIA Seattle presents this nomination with our full intention to support his candidacy and his work as a Director. We have the highest confidence in the qualifications he brings to serve the Region, in the insights he will add to the deliberations of the AIA Board of Directors, and the excellent and energetic leadership he brings to our profession. Our Northwest & Pacific Region colleagues, and the entire AIA organization, will benefit from his willingness and commitment to serve in this significant role.

Steven N. Arai AIA
President, AIA Seattle