Kimberly Dowdell

An architect determined to make the world a better place, Dowdell is based in Chicago with global design firm, HOK. She currently serves as the 2024 President of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

She previously served on the board of directors of the Architects Foundation, the philanthropic partner of the AIA. She also sits on the board of the Chicago Central Area Committee (CCAC), which works to shape the city’s growth, equity and quality of place. Kimberly is also a board member of the Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB), and Ingenuity Chicago, which increases access to quality arts education for all Chicago Public School students.

Kimberly is the past president of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) and a member of the National Organization of Minority Architects Council (NOMAC), the organization’s highest level of recognition. She is a past AIA Young Architects Award recipient and was recognized for her activism efforts by Architectural Record’s Women in Architecture Awards program.

Kimberly co-founded Social Economic Environmental Design, an organization that promotes sustainable development in 2005. She has been honored as a “40 Under 40” in Crain’s Chicago Business and Crain’s Detroit Business and delivered the 19th Annual Dunlop Lecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. She was elected by her fellow alumni to serve on the board of trustees at Cornell University in 2022.

Hailing from Detroit, her educational path includes Detroit Public School: Burns Elementary, Gibson School, Cranbrook Kingswood, Cornell and Harvard, where she was a Sheila C. Johnson Leadership Fellow.