LOS ANGELES, Sept. 18, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) elected three new trustees to its ranks today: Richard Baptie, a Senior Vice President of Hathaway Dinwiddie and head of their Southern California office; Director and producer Tim Disney, a principal of Blu Homes; and urban strategist Enrique Peñalosa, formerly the mayor of Colombia's capital, Bogotá.
"SCI-Arc has extended the political reach and intellectual capacity of its board of trustees by adding Tim Disney, Richard Baptie, and Enrique Peñalosa to its board," said SCI-Arc Director Eric Owen Moss. "Disney brings a supportive interest in art and design along with expertise in housing pre-fabrication; Baptie is an alumnus and long-time advocate for architecture education, and a builder with a unique reputation for constructing large and complex urban projects; and Peñalosa brings an international political pedigree and an expertise in Latin American urbanism to the SCI-Arc community. Welcome all."
SCI-Arc's Board is chaired by land-use attorney Jerry Neuman. It now includes 25 members, among them noted individuals such as Rick Carter, William Fain, Frank Gehry, Tom Gilmore, Thom Mayne, Kevin Ratner, and Ted Tanner.
"As one of the highest ranked architectural institutions in the country and among the foremost thought leaders in the world in the areas of planning, design and the built environment, we believe it is important to have a Board that reflects that same stature," stated Neuman. "Dick, Tim and Enrique more than fit that bill, they personify it and I am proud to have them join the school as Trustees."
The SCI-Arc trustees unanimously elected Baptie, Disney and Peñalosa to the board at their quarterly meeting held September 18th on the school's campus in downtown Los Angeles.
Richard Baptie is a Senior Vice President and head of the Southern California office of Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Company. He is currently the Principal-in-Charge of the Emerson College construction project in Hollywood and a large office complex for an entertainment company in Glendale, among other duties. He has been involved as a leader in many notable projects in Southern California including The Getty Center, The Reagan Library Air Force One Pavilion and the 2000 Avenue of the Stars project. Baptie joined Hathaway Dinwiddie in 1985, having studied Architecture at SCI-Arc. He received his Bachelor's Degree in Economics from California State University, Los Angeles. Involved in the community, Baptie is on the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Business Council, The Kidspace Museum, past President of the USC Architectural Guild and has served on the capital campaigns for the Music Center and the Downtown YMCA.
Tim Disney has written, directed or produced 15 feature films, documentaries, and television programs. From 1992 – 2000, he served as Chairman and CEO of Virtual World Entertainment, a leading developer and operator of 3D gaming and simulation technology. Disney was a founding investor and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Blu Homes Inc., the leading manufacturer of green pre-fab housing. He also serves as President of The Rowena Group, a private investment firm, and as a Director of Shamrock Capital Advisors, a leading private equity investor in the fields of media, entertainment, and communications. A graduate of Harvard University with a degree in Fine Arts, Disney serves as a Trustee of California Institute of the Arts. He co-founded the international aid organization World Connect, and serves on the Board of several other charitable organizations.
Enrique Peñalosa is an urban strategist whose vision and proposals have significantly influenced policies in numerous cities throughout the world. He currently is President of the Board of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy of New York. As Mayor of Colombia's capital city of Bogotá from 1998 to 2001, Peñalosa profoundly transformed the city, turning it into an international example for improvements in quality of life, public spaces, mobility and equity. He implemented a model giving priority to children and public spaces and restricting private car use, building schools and libraries in the poorest neighborhoods, as well as adding hundreds of miles of protected bicycle paths, sidewalks, pedestrian streets, bicycle highways, greenways, and parks. Peñalosa has lectured all over the world in governmental, academic and citizens' forums, and his ideas have been featured in many of the world's most important media.
About SCI-Arc
Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) is dedicated to educating architects who will imagine and shape the future. It is an independent, accredited degree-granting institution offering undergraduate and graduate programs in architecture. Located in a quarter-mile-long former freight depot in the Arts District in Downtown Los Angeles, the school is distinguished by its vibrant studio culture and emphasis on process. SCI-Arc's approximately 500 students and 80 faculty members, most of whom are practicing architects, work together to re-examine assumptions, create, explore and test the limits of architecture. SCI-Arc faculty and leadership have garnered more than 500 national and international design awards and recognitions, including Progressive Architecture awards, American Institute of Architects (AIA) awards, and the prestigious Jencks and Pritzker architecture prizes. SCI-Arc is nationally ranked first in computer applications and second in design by the 2013 America's Best Architecture Schools survey from DesignIntelligence, and the #1 graduate and undergraduate architecture school in Western United States. SCI-Arc is located at 960 E. 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013. www.sciarc.edu
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