About the Creators
Rebecca W.E. Edmunds, AIA, LEED AP
AUTHOR
Rebecca W. E. Edmunds’s career spans multiple disciplines including design for highly technical textiles and apparel. Her architectural practice focuses on providing leadership in creating consistent, comprehensive communications and writing on design for aesthetic and technical performance. Her experience includes product design for technical applications in environments such as medical, cleanrooms, military and extreme outdoor. She has been a consultant to state AIA Fellowship Committees since 2007 aiding candidate submission strategies.
As president of r4 llc, Edmunds assists professionals, designers and artists develop comprehensive narratives of their projects, achievements, careers and creative philosophy. She brings a background in architecture, design, R&D, graphics, communications and creative writing to professional narrative development. She has served as editor and/or advisor to several publications including Managing Design: Conversations, Project Controls and Best Practices for Commercial Design and Construction Projects (Michael A. LeFevre FAIA, 2019); Individual to Collective, Duda|Paine Architects (2014), Sketchbook on the World, Pen and Ink Travel Sketches (Terrance J. Brown, FAIA, 2017); and Homelands (The NAAB National Conference, 2001). She has authored and ghost-authored many articles and case studies.
Edmunds received a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University, a Master of Architecture from the University of North Carolina Charlotte, and a Master of Fine Arts from Queens University Charlotte. She has also completed executive training programs including a mini-MBA at UNC Chapel Hill’s Kenan Flagler Business School, Leadership for Performance at UVA’s Darden School of Business and Leadership for Technical Managers at the Center for Creative Leadership.
Edmunds received the 2019 Leslie N. Boney Spirit of Fellowship Award for her work on behalf of the College of Fellows. She has won writing and design awards including the AIA’s Henry Adams Medal, the AIA NC Architectural Book Award, and UNC Charlotte’s Excellence in Architectural History and Theory Book Award and Best Architectural Design Project. She won an Innovation Award for Technology from textile manufacturer Burlington Industries. She served as Vice President of Outreach for AIA Virginia 2018-2021.
Michael Alan LeFevre, FAIA Emeritus, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Michael LeFevre’s seven-decade career in design and construction offers a unique cross-industry perspective. He is Managing Editor of DesignIntelligence Media Group Publications, with hundreds of publications to his credit, and Principal, DesignIntelligence Strategic Advisory, the country’s leading design think tank.
Following a 30-year award winning career in design, for 22 years he was vice president, planning & design support at Holder Construction Company, a national construction management firm, providing design management services with more than 70 of the world’s best design firms. In a pioneering self-created position at Holder, he founded two new multi-service areas—responsible for company-wide design collaboration—developing new systems, education and processes for design partners, trade contractors and owners, creation of an industry-leading national BIM integration team, and development of a BIM-based facility management software.
LeFevre holds a Master’s in Architecture degree, Design Concentration (Summa Cum Laude) from the University of Michigan and is a winner of awards for his work in design, collaboration and technology, including the AGC “Best Information Technology Solutions” and an AIA BIM Award. He is a two-time winner of Progressive Architecture Design Award Citations and winner of High Honors in R&D Magazine’s “Lab of the Year,” and multiple AIA Design Awards. He was formerly a principal at Lord Aeck Sargent Architects, project designer/project architect with Heery International, adjunct instructor in Architecture at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture & Urban Planning, associate design director at Herrmann & Holman, and intern architect with Tivadar Balogh.
In 2012, he was elevated to the AIA’s College of Fellows for his contributions in advancing architectural practice and achieved Emeritus status in 2019. As a top-rated keynote speaker, he has presented on design collaboration and building information modeling to over 200 groups, conferences, universities and companies, nationally and internationally. He served on the industry advisory board at Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning’s Alumni Board of Governors.
LeFevre has been frequently cited, been featured in, written and contributed to national publications such as Engineering News Record, Lessons From the Future (J. Cramer & S. Simpson, Wren Press, 2018), and LEAN Architecture: Excellence in Project Delivery, M. Czap, G. Buchanan, Wiley 2021. His debut book, Managing Design: Conversations, Project Controls and Best Practices for Commercial Design and Construction Projects (Wiley, 2019) was Amazon’s #1 new release in category.