Newsletter | Sep/Oct 2010


Sterring Committee Nominee - Suzan Swabacker

by Suzan Swabacker

Biography
Ms. Swabacker brings more than 30 years specialized expertise in the architectural design and construction management of hospitality, commercial and residential sectors.

Suzan Swabacker is a licensed architect and a construction manager with her own firm in the South Bay. Major projects designed and /or managed during construction by Ms. Swabacker include 2 Ritz Carlton Hotels, an Emergency Room at Children’s Hospital Oakland, the Airport Terminal A at SFO, the Ka’ahumanu Shopping Center on Maui, and the conversion of an office building to a charter high school in Redwood City. In addition her
firm managed the tenant improvement work for the Tanforan Shopping Center expansion in 2006. She began her career with the US Navy where she was involved with numerous housing renovations on Naval bases, as well as governmental overviews and inter-agency coordination between the Navy and other military departments. She has been privileged to work with several outstanding Architectural offices in the Bay Area.

In addition Ms. Swabacker has been teaching design studio classes part time at the Academy of Art in San Francisco for over 12 years. She has been an invited speaker for several symposiums in San Francisco, and one in Indonesia. Her education includes a degree from UCB and a masters in civil engineering from Stanford. She was a steering committee member about 30 years ago, and would like to serve again. “Many of my life-long friends I met thru the OWA,” she said. “It’s a wonderful way to connect with talented women designers in many fields.”

Goals for advancing the mission of the OWA:
• determining how to obtain more visibility for the OWA, including newspaper, radio and ads at the ASLA, AIA, IIDA, ASID, etc
• determining how to increase the number of new members, particularly those under age 35 into the organization.
• determining how best to spend some of the OWA money to achieve the above 2 items



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