the fund, report on the activities and developments of local Fellows to the chancellor and aia headquarters, and encourage chapters and individuals to apply for College grants. Also at the 1988 meeting the College elected the first woman member of the executive committee when it chose L. Jane Hastings as bursar-elect. Reminiscent of Henry Bacon’s 1923 outdoor Gold Medal ceremony, the 1989 investiture in St. Louis took place at Saarinen’s Gateway Arch, overlooking the Mississippi to the east and the city to the west. The Missouri Athletic Club was the setting for the College’s annual meeting, presided over by Chancellor Preston M. Bolton. Members adopted revised College bylaws, the first comprehensive revision since 1952. The chancellor reaffirmed the expectations of the College for its network of regional representatives, an organization now in place and functioning. The policy of transferring one-third of all College of Fellows Fund contributions, interest, and other income to the permanent capital fund, while using the remaining two-thirds for each year’s grants, yielded steady capital fund growth, from $251,433 in 1984 to $406,772 five years later. The 13 grants given in 1989, culled from 84 applications, came to $60,438. Chancellor Bolton reaffirmed the College’s support for the Octagon restoration and noted as well its support for the Institute’s increased efforts to make architecture and architects more accessible to the public. As an example, he cited the series of grants for an exhibition on women in architecture planned to mark the 100th anniversary of the aia’s first woman member. The question of the underrepresentation of African Americans in the
aia and in the College was raised. After discussion, a motion was passed asking the executive committee to form a task force to investigate the concerns of minority architects and to report to the College at its next meeting with suggested actions. In 1990 the College chose the University of Houston’s School of Architecture for the investiture and the cavernous George R. Brown Convention Center for its annual meeting. To give greater meaning to the College of Fellows Fund grants, Chancellor William A. Rose gave a slide presentation of seven projects funded in the previous two years, illustrating “a collection of work that has demonstrated creativity, character, and very real value both
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History of the College of Fellows