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It's sort of ironic, Nancy Merryman says cheerfully. It took me 50 years of being a woman to become a fellow.
In February, Merryman - American Institute of Architects Portland chapter president, a partner at Robertson, Merryman, Barnes, and LEED accredited professional - added another letter to the string of distinctions behind her name when she and University of Oregon professor G.Z. Brown were elevated to the AIA College of Fellows. Merryman's election to the prestigious college came for improving the environment in a fashion that advances the living standards of people, a tribute that underlines the firm's commitment to projects that make a difference in the communities they serve.
DJC: More women are being recognized with induction to the AIA College of Fellows, which is exciting, but is there still farther to go?
Nancy Merryman: One of the things that the AIA has been talking about a lot is increasing the diversity in the profession. Where women have made great strides, other races are very underrepresented. That's something we're all thinking about. And that's also getting those closer ties with the universities, and with high schools. We have this Architects in Schools program to encourage all sorts of people into the profession.
DJC: About 15 percent of the fellows elected to the college in the past two years have been women. Is the small percentage of women who are fellows a reflection of the profession as a whole?
Merryman: Not in our office (laughing). It's interesting, because I started in 1980, that's when I graduated. My first studio in architecture school was 50 percent women. I think that's right when they'd been letting more women into architecture school. But then in the next studio I had, which was an upper division studio, I was the only woman, or I think maybe one other woman, in a group of 15. In my last year, I think there was, like, three women. When I graduated everyone disappeared. It was the height of the recession, and I was lucky enough to get a job at BOORA and moved up here. But there was only one other woman at BOORA out of 40 people or so. I think it got up to a high point of five,...