Carole J. Olshavsky

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Carole J. Olshavsky
NationalityAmerican
Alma materKent State University
OccupationArchitect
AwardsThomas Jefferson Award
BuildingsWexner Center for the Arts,
Inventors' Hall of Fame

Carole J. Olshavsky, FAIA, an American architect. She is the former state architect of Ohio and a recipient of the American Institute of Architects' (AIA) 2014 Thomas Jefferson Award for her contributions to public architecture.[1] She is the only woman to serve as state architect for Ohio, and the first woman to be awarded the American Institute of Architects' Ohio Gold Medal, the highest honor awarded by AIA Ohio.[2][3]

Life[edit]

Olshavsky is a graduate of Kent State University, and earned her architecture license in 1973. She opened an architecture firm with her husband, Donald Olshavsky, in 1975, in Ohio.[4]

In 1985, she was appointed state architect for the state of Ohio, and stayed in that position until 1988. During her tenure, she oversaw projects including the construction of the Wexner Center for the Arts and the National Inventors Hall of Fame at the University of Akron. During her tenure, she contributed to new state legislation that established qualifications-based assessment of design bids, so contracts were legally obliged to not simply go to the least expensive proposal.[5] Between 1988 and 1991 Olshavsky took the position within Ohio's Department of Public Works as the deputy director. After 1991 she returned to the private sector she had left in 1985.[4]

In 2003, she rejoined the public sector as senior executive of capital improvements for Columbus City Schools. Columbus City Schools had 116 schools in 2002 and this include 16 high schools.[6] She led a 15-year, $1.3 billion school reconstruction program.[4]

As of 2015, Olshavsky serves as president of the Architects Society of Ohio, chair on the AIA Committee on Public Architecture, AIA regional director and national vice president, and chancellor for the AIA College of Fellows.[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Thomas Jefferson Awards". Architect Magazine. June 26, 2014. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Columbus City Schools Senior Executive Director Receives National Recognition Thomas Jefferson Award for Public Architecture". Columbus City Schools. February 25, 2014. Archived from the original on March 18, 2016. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
  3. ^ "AIA Ohio Gold Medal Award". AIA Ohio. Archived from the original on 2016-03-19. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
  4. ^ a b c Cendón, Sara Fernández (February 21, 2014). "2014 Thomas Jefferson Award for Public Architecture". American Institute of Architects. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
  5. ^ Calamaio, Cody (February 28, 2014). "AIA Announces Thomas Jefferson Award Winners". Contract. Archived from the original on 2016-03-29. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
  6. ^ Columbus City Schools: By the Numbers Archived 2012-02-18 at the Wayback Machine, 2002, Columbus City Schools. Retrieved 21 October 2015