Peter MacKeith, dean and professor of architecture at the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas, is a nationally recognized design educator and administrator. During his leadership since 2014, the school has grown significantly in student enrollment, retention and graduation outcomes, faculty appointments and accomplishments, curricular programs, diversity initiatives, community engagements and outreach centers, external funded research, new facilities and financial resources.

A nationally recognized leader in advancing the cause of a forest-centered culture and economy, and the cause of a wood-product centered approach to architecture, engineering and construction, MacKeith lectures and presents frequently on these topics, most recently for The Architect’s Newspaper, the Sustainable Forests Initiative, The Nature Conservancy, and the International Living Future Initiative. He is currently working with the Arkansas World Trade Center to organize a state trade and industry delegation to Finland in June 2022, to advance the state’s interests in environmental and economic development, particularly in its forests, timberlands and wood products industries, and with the production team of the PBS series “America’s Forests” on an episode devoted to the Arkansas forests and forest communities.

A 2020 Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council, MacKeith has been recognized twice by Design Intelligence as a “design educator of the year” (2017 and 2019) and twice by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture with national awards for “creative achievement in design education,” for his design studio teaching and curatorial work.

MacKeith serves as chair of the advisory committee for the Northwest Arkansas Design Excellence Program, a regional initiative of the Walton Family Foundation, and is a member of the editorial board of Places Journal for architecture, landscape architecture and urbanism. He is currently overseeing the completion of a $75 million capital campaign for the Fay Jones School, and guiding the design and construction of the Anthony Timberlands Center for Design and Materials Innovation, a regional center for research and development of new wood products and new approaches in sustainable construction materials.

Elizabeth Wendell is committed to creating uplifting and powerful places that are deeply interconnected with their surrounding community.

She seeks design innovation at the nexus of the city, technology, and culture, deriving architectural solutions that engage and adapt to our rapidly changing urban environments and economies. As a Senior Project Designer and Architect at RIOS, she leads a collaborative design process within her teams that centers the design on the community it serves. Equal parts artist and pragmatist, she builds consensus among clients, stakeholders, and the project team around meaningful architectural concepts while skillfully executing project delivery on time and on budget.

Elizabeth’s work at RIOS and at prior firms Gensler, Morphosis, Graft, and JFAK include notable award-winning urban, institutional, and civic buildings such as the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures (Los Angeles), the Denver International Airport Extension, the Emerson Los Angeles Center, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science (Dallas), and celebrated architectural proposals including the US Embassy in London, Seoul Performing Arts Center in Korea, and King Abdullah Energy Research Center in Saudi Arabia.

She is a founding member of the national Urban Land Institute’s Technology and Real Estate Council, and is a member of the ULI Advisory Board for the LA District Council.

John Skok, AIA, Principal of McIntosh Poris Associates, has led the firm’s architectural design, project strategy and management, community engagement, and new project development since joining in 2001. He is responsible for projects from the early schematic phases of design through construction administration. John’s specialties are in commercial architecture, historic preservation, multi-family housing, adaptive reuse, public and cultural spaces, and interiors. John graduated from the University of Detroit Mercy in 2000, with a Bachelor of Architecture degree and is currently active with his alma mater on the School of Architecture Deans Advisory Council. He is a former member of the board of zoning appeals for the City of Ferndale, MI.

Beth O’Neill co-founded O’Neill McVoy Architects in 2012 on the belief that architecture can elevate the everyday through shaping contours of space and material in light, for heightened awareness of time and nature. The Brooklyn-based multi-scale practice initiates projects by exploring the latent potential and the special qualities of a project’s site and its aspirations to illuminate how architecture can catalyze its purpose. The studio’s award-winning built work, ongoing construction projects and theoretical proposals include residential, commercial, and institutional buildings and spaces realized in collaboration with private and public clients.

Chris McVoy co-founded O’Neill McVoy Architects in 2012 on the belief that architecture can elevate the everyday through shaping contours of space and material in light, for heightened awareness of time and nature. The Brooklyn-based multi-scale practice initiates projects by exploring the latent potential and the special qualities of a project’s site and its aspirations to illuminate how architecture can catalyze its purpose. The studio’s award-winning built work, ongoing construction projects and theoretical proposals include residential, commercial, and institutional buildings and spaces realized in collaboration with private and public clients.

Emily Conklin (she/her) is a writer, architecture historian, and the managing editor of The Architect’s Newspaper. She holds a M.S. in Historic Preservation from Columbia GSAPP, and her current areas of research include office to residential conversions and designs for coliving.

Ryan Jones, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, is a partner at Lake|Flato Architects and a leader of the firm’s Higher Education studio. Ryan thrives in an environment of complexity, where the discovery of simple and holistic solutions are the result of extraordinary collaboration, analysis, and curiosity. During his 18 years with Lake|Flato, Ryan has designed some of the firm’s most sophisticated and award-winning projects that bring harmony to often conflicting project needs through a focus on discovery and collaboration. These qualities have made him a national thought leader in the planning and design of Science & Technology, Performing Arts, and Mixed-Use Cultural Districts. Ryan’s work centers on designing high-performing buildings that elevate the user experience with modern spaces that are warm, tactile, and intensely focused on reinforcing the connections between human wellness and nature. Three of his projects have received AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE) Top 10 awards, the profession’s highest honor for architecture that demonstrates both inspirational design and environmental stewardship.

Eric Lacroix in consistently recognized throughout the design community and construction industry for his firestop expertise, especially in terms curtain wall perimeter fire barrier systems where he is considered the “Industry Specialist”. Eric has over 20 years of real world experience serving as an invaluable resource on many of largest, most complex high profile projects around the world. He works closely with inspectors, glazing contractors, and curtain wall consultants as a trusted advisor during the design, fabrication, construction and installation of a wide range of curtain wall projects.Eric’s wealth of knowledge and experience ensures the project stays on budget and gets done right the first time. He continuously adds value throughout the process, from conception to construction, to close out. Prior to his role as Director of Strategic Accounts, Eric was the STI Firestop Regional Manager, covering the Southeastern United States, Latin America, the Caribbean, South America, and Mexico.

Marty Wood is the Program Director for The Architect’s Newspaper’s Facades+ Conferences and other AN events and initiatives that bring together AEC professionals to share their stories, expertise, and projects. As a writer, he’s contributed to The Architect’s Newspaper, Metropolis, and other design publications. He is also a visiting instructor at Pratt Institute. Wood has a BA in Communications from San Francisco State University and a M.S. from Columbia University GSAPP.

Jack Murphy is Managing Editor of The Architect’s Newspaper. Previously, he was Editor of Cite: The Architecture and Design Review of Houston and Adjunct Professor at the Gerald D. Hines University of Houston College of Architecture and Design. He earned an undergraduate degree in architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a graduate degree in architecture from Rice University. He has worked for award-winning architects in New York City, Houston, Austin, and Boston. His writing has appeared in Places Journal, Dwell, Architectural Record, The Architect’s Newspaper, Texas Architect, Cite, PLAT, Paprika!, New York Review of Architecture, The Houston Chronicle, and SF Gate, among other publications. He was Co-Editor-in-Chief for PLAT 7.5 Oversharing and PLAT 8.0 Simplicity and Assistant Editor of Totalization, edited by Troy Schaum and published by Park Books. He lives in Brooklyn.