Paul A. Kennon
Paul Atherton Kennon Jr. (January 27, 1934 – January 8, 1990), was an American architect, a fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Dean of the School of Architecture at Rice University, Texas, US.[1][2]
Paul Atherton Kennon Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 27, 1934 |
| Died | January 8, 1990 (aged 55) Houston, Texas, US |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation(s) | Architect and Professor |
| Spouse | Helen Ross Kennon (married 1957) |
| Children | Two children |
A native of Shreveport in northwestern Louisiana, Kennon studied for his undergraduate degree at Texas A & M University, followed by earning a Master's degree at Cranbrook Academy of Art, Michigan. He worked for seven years as a designer for architect Eero Saarinen[2] (He won an Eliel Saarinen Memorial Fellowship that enabled him to study at the Cranbrook Academy.)[1]
Kennon was recruited to Rice University as associate director of the School of Architecture and a teaching faculty member. He became dean of the architecture school in September 1989. A few months later, he died suddenly in 1990 of a heart attack.[2]
In 1967, he returned to work with the architectural practice, Caudill, Rowlett, Scott, headed by his mentor William W. Caudill, for whom he had worked during his college vacations. He became a design principal and then president of the company. The projects for which he was responsible won a number of awards.[1]
Family
Kennon was the son of Paul Atherton Kennon Sr. (1910-1986), a native of Tangipahoa Parish in South Louisiana,[3] and the former Gladys Bookout (1910-2001), originally from Shreveport. The couple divorced. A college graduate, his mother for years was executive secretary at Arkansas-Louisiana CITGO.
About 1945, Gladys Kennon married Taylor W. O'Hearn of Shreveport. In 1964, when blacks were still mostly disenfranchised in Louisiana, O'Hearn was elected at-large from Caddo Parish as a state representative. He was one of two Republicans elected that year, the first to serve in the state house since Reconstruction. The other was also elected at-large from Caddo Parish.
References
- "Kennon, Paul Atherton". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2014-11-11. From "Remembering Paul Kennon, FAIA" Texas Architect, March–April 1990.
- "Paul A. Kennon, 55, Honored Architect And a Dean at Rice". The New York Times. January 10, 1990. Retrieved 2014-11-11.
- "Paul Atherton Kennon". wadeprater.com. Retrieved February 24, 2015.