Dina Griffin
Dina became president of Interactive Design Architects (IDEA) in 1999. Her experience in educational, municipal and corporate projects contributes significantly to the firm’s capacities and her adept leadership and collaborative skills are invaluable to all projects, especially those with multiple stakeholder groups. She often oversees interior architecture, FF&E and finishing details on projects, in addition to her duties managing the firm’s daily operation.
Dina became a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 2018. She is active in the community as a board member of the Chicago Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and a former member of the Board of Directors for the Illinois Chapter. Dina is also past president of the Illinois Chapter of the National Organization for Minority Architects. Dina currently serves on the Illinois Architect Licensing Board, is a member of the Advisory Board for Contract Magazine and is a member of the Leadership Advisory Committee for The Art Institute of Chicago whose primary mission is to bring the arts to underserved neighborhoods in the City of Chicago.
Kathryn Anthony
Kathryn Anthony is a Professor at the Illinois School of Architecture, where she teaches, conducts research, and writes about how spaces and places affect people. Her expertise focuses on such topics as social and behavioral factors in design, gender and race in contemporary architecture, and entrepreneurship in design. She has also developed a new seminar on architecture, cinema, environment, and behavior. Her research has spawned award-winning books, Design Juries on Trial: The Renaissance of the Design Studio and Designing for Diversity: Gender, Race, and Ethnicity in the Architectural Profession. She recently co-authored Shedding New Light on Art Museum Additions: Front Stage and Back Stage Experiences, with Altaf Engineer.
One of Professor Anthony's latest books is Defined by Design: The Surprising Power of Hidden Gender, Age, and Body Bias in Everyday Products and Places. It demonstrates how design shapes our lives in ways most of us would never imagine—affecting our comfort, our self-image, and even our health.
She is the recipient of the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award from Chicago Women in Architecture. The award recognizes her 40-year career as educator, researcher and author who amplified the conversation about how spaces and places affect people—chiefly addressing issues of gender and diversity in design.
