Elizabeth Chu Richter is a

Chinese-born American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from m ...

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 ...

. As of 2015, she is the 91st President 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 has served as the Vice President of the Texas Society of Architects since 2007, representing over 85,500 AIA members. She also serves as a regional director representing Texas on the AIA's National Board of Directors. She was the creator and co-producer of the radio show ''The Shape of Texas'' which covered architecture topics and was broadcast on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

affiliate stations in Texas for eleven years. Nmpw-front-left-flags

She is the CEO of the firm Richter Architects, whose projects include a "living history" section of the

National Museum of the Pacific War The National Museum of the Pacific War is located in Fredericksburg, Texas, the boyhood home of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. Nimitz served as commander in chief, United States Pacific Fleet (CinCPAC), and was soon afterward named commander i ...

, the Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve headquarters, highway rest stops, the

Solomon P. Ortiz Solomon Porfirio Ortiz (born June 3, 1937) is an American former politician who served as the U.S. representative for , based in Corpus Christi, serving from 1983 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. In 2010, Ortiz was narrowly ...

National Center, and the

Mustang Island Mustang Island is a barrier island on the Gulf Coast of Texas in the United States. The island is 18 miles (29 km) long, stretching from Corpus Christi to Port Aransas. The island is oriented generally northeast–southwest, with the Gulf ...

Episcopal Conference Center.

Early life and education

Richter was born in

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

, China and spent her early childhood in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

. In 1963 when she was thirteen, her mother, Irene Chu, took her and her five siblings to Dallas, Texas. Richter studied architecture at the

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, 11,07 ...

and received her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in 1974. She joined Kipp Richter & Associates in 1989. Ritcher also entered the college of Fellows of the AIA in 2005. Her mother was present at Richter's inauguration as the 2015 President of the AIA.

Personal life

Chu Richter is married to David Richter, with whom she shares awards for various architecture projects. They have been partners in life and work for decades. Chu's father died due to illness while Richter was young. She has five other siblings.

References

External links

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Elizabeth Chu Richter Architectural Collection, Ms1997-022, Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richter, Elizabeth Chu Living people American women architects Architects from Texas Fellows of the American Institute of Architects Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century American architects 21st-century American architects Chinese emigrants to the United States 20th-century American women 21st-century American women