Daphne Elizabeth Brown (1948–2011) was an American architect who was posthumously inducted into the

Alaska Women's Hall of Fame The Alaska Women's Hall of Fame (AWHF) recognizes women natives or residents of the U.S. state of Alaska for their significant achievements or statewide contributions. It was conceived by the board of directors of the Alaska Women's Network (AWN) ...

and awarded the Kumin Award from the

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

, the highest recognition for architectural achievement in Alaska.

Biography

Daphne Elizabeth Brown was born April 28, 1948, in

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is the List of municipalities in New Hampshire, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. Located on the banks of the Merrimack River, it had a population of 115,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Manches ...

to Sophie Mary (née Rowbotham) and Ridgley Staniford Brown. In her childhood, her family relocated to

Gardner, Massachusetts Gardner is a city in Worcester County, Massachusetts, Worcester County in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,287 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Gardner is home of such sites as the Blue Moon D ...

and she attended school at Walnut Hill School in

Natick, Massachusetts Natick ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is near the center of the MetroWest region of Massachusetts, with a population of 37,006 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. west of Boston, Natick is part o ...

. She continued her education at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1970 and in 1973, earned her master's degree in

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

. In 1975, Brown moved to Alaska and began her career working for Edwin Butler Crittenden at CCC Architects in Anchorage. She began working with Kumin Associates in 1987 and in 1988, her work was recognized in the American Institute of Architects (AIA) traveling exhibition to acknowledge the contributions of women architects. The exhibition, entitled ''Many More: Women in Architecture, 1978-1988'', featured 77 projects accepted from women architects by the committee. She was honored with a Loeb fellowship from the

Harvard Graduate School of Design The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) is the graduate school of design at Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It offers master's and doctoral programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urba ...

in 1989. Brown was involved in many corollary support organizations, serving as the chair of the state licensing board for architecture, engineering and land surveying; the chair of the board for subdivisions and boundaries; and the chair of the planning and zoning commission. In 2002, she began work on a project to expand and renovate the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center. Brown's role in the project was to ensure that the design met with the "technical, climatic, structural, and seismic" requirements of Anchorage codes and conditions, She served as the overall project manager of the 90,000 sq ft addition and remodeling of the existing space. In 2007, she became a partner in Kumin Associates. She died of uterine cancer on December 10, 2011, in

Anchorage Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolita ...

, Alaska. In 2013, she was posthumously honored as an inductee into the

and was awarded the Kumin Award from the AIA, the highest recognition for architectural achievement in Alaska.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Daphne Elizabeth 1948 births 2011 deaths People from Manchester, New Hampshire University of Pennsylvania alumni University of Washington College of Built Environments alumni American women architects Architects from New Hampshire Architects from Alaska 20th-century American architects 21st-century American architects Deaths from uterine cancer in the United States Deaths from cancer in Alaska 21st-century American women artists 20th-century American women