Merrill Elam is an American

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and educator based in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. She is a principal with Mack Scogin in

Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects is an American architecture firm based in Atlanta, Georgia. The two principal architects are husband and wife Mack Scogin and Merrill Elam. The firm was first founded in 1984 as Parker and Scogin, and later, from ...

Architects where their work spans between buildings, interiors, planning, graphics and exhibition design, and research.

Biography and education

She received a Bachelor of Architecture from the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

in 1971 and a Master of Business Administration at the

J. Mack Robinson College of Business The J. Mack Robinson College of Business is the business school of Georgia State University in Atlanta. Based in the J. Mack Robinson College of Business Administration Building, it is one of Georgia State's six colleges. History Robinson College ...

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the ...

in 1982.

Career

She worked as an architect and senior associate at Heery & Heery Architects & Engineers for 12 years prior to establishing Scogin Elam and Bray Architects in 1984. In 2000, Mack Scogin and Merrill Elam Architects was established. She has been a licensed architect in 13 states, a member of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

and is

NCARB The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) is a nonprofit corporation comprising the legally constituted architectural registration boards of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puert ...

certified. In addition to an active practice, she has been a visiting architecture professor in architecture programs across the country including

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

, and

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. She also formerly acted as president of the Georgia State Board of Architects. In addition she aided in founding the Architecture Society of Atlanta and is the former organization's former president.

Selected projects

*The Round House, Connecticut, 2020 *One Midtown Plaza Lobby, Atlanta, Georgia, 2007 *Health Services Center,

, New Haven, Connecticut, 2006 *Ernie Davis Hall,

, Syracuse, New York, 2005 *Gates Center for Computer Science and Hillman Center for Future Generation Technologies,

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2005 *Zhongkai Sheshan Villas,

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

, China, 2004 *Carroll A. Campbell Jr. Graduate Engineering Center,

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enro ...

, Clemson, South Carolina, 2004 *U.S. Federal Courthouse, General Services Administration,

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, Texas, 2003 *Lulu Chow Wang Campus Center and Davis Garage,

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...

, Wellesley, Massachusetts, 2001 *Carol Cobb Turner Branch Library, Marrow, Georgia, 1991 *John J. Ross - William C. Blakley Law Library,

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

, Tempe, Arizona, 1993 * Austin E. Knowlton School of Architecture,

, Columbus, Ohio, 1998 *Jean Gray Hargrove Music Library,

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, Berkeley, California, 1998 *Mountain Tree House, Dillard, Georgia, 1998

Honors and awards

*2014 Design Leader award, Women in Architecture Awards, ''

Architectural Record ''Architectural Record'' is a US-based monthly magazine dedicated to architecture and interior design. "The Record," as it is sometimes colloquially referred to, is widely-recognized as an important historical record of the unfolding debates in a ...

'', 2014 *Shutze Medal, Georgia Institute of Technology with Mack Scogin, 2013 *Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for Architecture with Mack Scogin, 2012 *Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize in Architecture, American Academy of Arts and Letters with Mack Scogin, 2011 *Royal Institute of British Architects, International Fellow, 2008 *Chrysler Award for Innovation in Design with Mack Scogin, 1996 *Arts and Letters Award in Architecture,

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

with Mack Scogin, 1995

References

External links

Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects
*International Archive of Women in Architecture, https://web.archive.org/web/20151023163207/http://lumiere.lib.vt.edu/iawa_db/view_all.php3?person_pk=278®ion=&table=bio&cSel= {{DEFAULTSORT:Elam, Merrill 21st-century American architects American women architects Living people 20th-century American architects Architects from Atlanta Georgia Tech alumni Georgia State University alumni Harvard Graduate School of Design faculty Yale University faculty Academic staff of the University of Toronto University of Virginia faculty Ohio State University faculty Syracuse University faculty University of Texas at Austin faculty Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century American women American women academics 21st-century American women