Seven former students named for the College of Architecture Harold L. Adams ’61, Outstanding Alumni Award

Over a three-decade career, Jonathan Brinsden has applied a passion for real estate to become a renowned industry leader and developer of award-winning projects. After leading the growth and transformation of two companies, he joined the Irvine Company, the largest private real estate company in the United States and best known for creating the cities of Newport Beach and Irvine.

Brinsden serves as group president, commercial properties at Irvine Company and is a member of the company’s Executive Management Committee and Investment Committee. He is responsible for the leadership, strategy and performance of the Apartment Development, Office, Retail, and Corporate Business Properties divisions. The 65 million-square-foot portfolio includes properties in Orange County, San Diego, West Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, Chicago and New York City.

Previously, Brinsden served as chief executive officer of Midway. Before joining Midway, he served as president and chief operating officer at Hamm Corporation.

Brinsden is a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), the past chairman of ULI Americas, former global board director, trustee, and ULI Foundation governor. He has led non-profit organizations focused on civic leadership, parks and green space, and homelessness, including roles as former chairman of Central Houston and Search Homeless Services and vice chairman of Buffalo Bayou Partnership.

He has helped promote real estate education through the Texas A&M University Development Industry Advisory Council, the Association of Former Students (Endowed Century Club), and as an adjunct professor and guest lecturer at Texas A&M University, Rice University, and the University of Houston.

Brinsden graduated from Texas A&M University as part of the class of 1991. He earned a Master of Science in Land and Real Estate Development (1994), a Bachelor of Science in Construction Science (1992), and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Design (1992).

Brent A. Brown ’90, is an architect who works to advance the public interest. He credits his parents for instilling in him an empathetic work ethic and Texas A&M University for introducing him to the power of design. His work has included affordable architecture, community development, cultural place-making, city planning, urban design, disaster recovery, and public green space initiatives. Through his leadership and commitment to equity, he built one of the nation’s leading public interest design practices, helped municipal governments prioritize design in decision-making, and established the foundation for some of Texas’ largest new public parks. 

Recognizing the limitations of architectural practice to overcome historical inequities in our cities and towns, Brown founded “building community WORKSHOP” to unite design, community engagement, and advocacy for social and economic justice. As a non-profit creative practice, “bcWORKSHOP” empowers positive change within communities across Texas while serving as a training ground for hundreds of young architects. 

He also started and directed the City of Dallas’ CityDesign Studio, an embedded creative practice within city government shaping billions of dollars of infrastructure, land use, and private development. Complementing this work, Brown led the Trinity Park Conservancy establishing a 100-year transformative vision while raising more than $100 million towards a new park on Dallas’ Trinity River. Brown continues to practice architecture, council civic leaders, and advocate for more equitable places through design. 

Winner of dozens of local, national, and international awards, he is especially proud to have been selected as a Rudy Bruner Award Silver Medalist and to be included in the Copper-Hewitt’s exhibition, By the People: Designing a Better America. Brown resides in Dallas with his partner Julia, teenage son Elliott, and their two dogs Kanga and Roo.

Steve Fitzpatrick graduated from Texas A&M University in 1978 with a Bachelor of Environmental Design. He completed his Master of Architecture from Rice University in 1981 while also working for Charles Tapley Associates in Houston.

He and his wife moved to Tyler in 1982 to begin making a difference. Starting his own firm in 1986, Fitzpatrick built a practice based on “vision, relationships, and trust.” This occurs within the firm, with clients, and the community. With trademark enthusiasm, Fitzpatrick has advocated for better design and improved quality of life in the city and region, leading by example. This leadership has allowed Fitzpatrick to become a trusted voice in the community.

In addition to his public advocacy, he has dedicated himself to mentoring the next generation of architects and developing leaders in both his practice and the community. With a staff of 30, located in a city the size of Tyler, the firm is having an impact that will change the future of Tyler for generations to come. The firm was recognized with the 2019 Firm Award from AIA Dallas and 2023 Business of the Year by Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce.

Dr. Clarence E. CEM Maxwell retired from federal service in December 2011. Upon graduation from Texas A&M, he entered the U.S. Army. He held positions in the U.S. and abroad, rising to the rank of Colonel. During his career, he has been responsible for the programming, funding, design oversight, construction management, and sustainment of over 1,600 health facilities worldwide. He served as the Program Manager for Army health facilities, as the consultant to The Surgeon General of the Army, and as an expert witness before the U.S Congress. At the time of his military retirement, he was the Dean of the largest allied health academy in the world, responsible for the education and training of over 30,000 students annually.

In August 2007, Maxwell accepted an appointment as a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES) with the Air Force. As an SES, he successfully managed one of the largest and most complex Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) initiatives ever undertaken. Over 10,000 government positions were moved between installations worldwide. A new campus was constructed for the medical training of all three Services’ enlisted personnel. Brooke Army Medical Center was expanded to create the Department of Defense’s largest teaching hospital. He had direct oversight of the Army Corps of Engineers to complete 39 construction projects valued at over $3.8 billion.

Maxwell has served on numerous boards including a School Board, the Army Medical Department Museum, and the Army Retirement Community. In 1969, CEM helped to form the Apha Apha Chapter of Tau Sigma Delta at Texas A&M.

He graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Architecture (1970). He earned a Master of Healthcare Administration from Baylor University (1978)  and received his doctorate from Texas A&M (1985). He was one of the first graduates to receive a doctoral degree from the College of Architecture.

Gary Mitchell, FAICP ’88 is a foremost practitioner of citywide comprehensive planning, including leading a high-profile Comprehensive Plan for College Station, Texas, in 2007-08. Some 20 years apart, in 1999 and 2019, Mitchell also led significant annexation planning efforts for the City of Bryan, with the latter resulting in long-term protection of Texas A&M University’s newly-established RELLIS Campus through Bryan annexing it and its surroundings.

Mitchell is President of Kendig Keast Collaborative, a niche community planning firm based in Sugar Land, that has consulted local governments in 41 states since 1982. His portfolio includes more than 60 plans – in communities ranging from 2,000 to 200,000 people – including cherished Texas towns such as Bastrop, Kerrville and Nacogdoches. His consulting work has taken him to 20 other states in the desert and mountain West, Midwest, Great Lakes region, and Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern U.S.

Prior to his Master of Urban Planning degree from Texas A&M (1988), he earned a bachelor’s in economics, with highest honors, at the University of Texas at Austin. He was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and is a member of the Omicron Delta Epsilon International Honor Society for Economics and Tau Sigma Delta Honor Society for Architecture and Allied Arts. In 2020, Mitchell was inducted into the 600-member College of Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners.

Mitchell has served on the College of Architecture’s Planning Professional Advisory Council since the early 2000’s, recently completing a six-year term as chair. He also lectured within the college, co-teaching a plan implementation course for graduate urban planning students.

Divisions of the American Planning Association (APA) have lauded 14 communities assisted by Mitchell as outstanding examples of urban planning, with awards in Illinois, New Mexico, Texas and Wyoming demonstrating his versatility. He has served as a statewide and regional elected leader of APA.

Erin K. Peavey is an award-winning architect, researcher, and renowned thought leader on the power of the built environment to foster well-being and human connection. Peavey earned a Bachelor of Environmental Design (2007), Cum Laude, and a Master of Architecture with a certificate in Health Systems and Design (2011), where she also earned the Henry Adams Certificate of Merit for her academic work. As vice president and health and well-being design leader at global design firm HKS, Peavey helps integrate research and practice to advance design for health, combat loneliness, and foster resilience across the globe. 

She is co-lead of the Foundation for Social Connection’s 2024 report on the built environment, an industry scholar with Cornell’s Institute for Healthy Futures, and podcast host of Shared Space. Peavey is a leading voice on how design can combat isolation and foster social health. Her path breaking work has been featured on TEDx, BBC, Architect Magazine, JAMA Ethics, Bloomberg, Fast Company, and many other venues across the globe.

While an undergraduate at Texas A&M University, she co-founded Student Health Environments Association, which continues today. At 24, she founded and chaired the AIA Austin’s robust Architecture for Health chapter, and a few years later served as the youngest trustee and research chair for the Academy of Architecture for Health Foundation, helping raise and award over $200,000 for research on environments for health. 

Peavey is a tireless advocate for vulnerable people and communities, including hospital patients and communities struggling with loneliness and mental health challenges. Ms. Peavey’s training in psychology, as well as architecture, helps her advocate for mental, social, and emotional well-being in design. She strongly supports interdisciplinary problem-solving and was the first architect to have a regular Psychology Today blog, serving as an advisor to the AIA Strategic Council’s Mental Health and Architecture Incubator.

Outside of work, Peavey enjoys time with her husband and young daughter in their small craftsman home in Old East Dallas, Texas. She is an avid swimmer, NPR listener, and always on the lookout for good local coffee shops and real talk.

A proud native Texan and second-generation Aggie, Jim Russ is a fourth-generation principal at one of Houston’s longest-standing, privately owned engineering firms, EHRA Engineering.

Russ began his career in the Civil Construction industry soon after earning a degree in building construction from Texas A&M University in 1986. He made the move to civil engineering in 1998, focusing on land development, municipal engineering and public infrastructure.

Celebrating its 88th anniversary in 2024, EHRA Engineering’s legacy is that of commitment and service. Serving as president and CEO, Russ has the distinct honor of serving as the leader of an organization of some of the most distinguished, well respected and accomplished professionals in the industry. As a leader, Russ is aware of the delicate balance in a consulting services firm that exists between team member focus and facilitating the client’s expectations. He is committed to inspiring a company culture that emphasizes the team and the client.

Russ, has a personal policy of “giving back by paying it forward,” and is actively engaged in the growth of the region through his volunteer work for numerous civil construction and engineering industry professional organizations, political action committees, infrastructure advocacy and economic development organizations throughout the Southeast Texas region.

In his spare time, Russ enjoys spending time with family and friends, networking and serving his community. An avid supporter of Texas A&M University, he takes great pride in his involvement with The Association of Former Students, The Texas A&M Foundation, the 12th Man Foundation, the Chancellor’s Century Council, School of Architecture, School of Engineering, School of Public Health and the Department of Construction Science. Of course, he also loves attending as many Texas Aggie baseball, basketball and football games as possible.