AIA San Francisco appoints new board member

SAN FRANCISCO — Steve Burrows has been appointed to the board of the American Institute of Architects, San Francisco Chapter (AIA San Francisco). An engineer, Burrows leads the Property Market in the Americas for the global engineering and consulting firm Arup.

Arup has long been a partner with the AIA SF, and has hosted events and developed programming for the Architecture in the City Festival, the largest architectural festival in the United States. Serving the Bay Area for more than a century, AIA San Francisco is the third largest of the AIA’s 300 chapters, representing more than 2,300 members in San Francisco and Marin County. The AIA’s mission is to improve the quality of life in the Bay Area by promoting architecture and design, through community involvement, education, advocacy, public outreach, member service, and professional excellence.

AIA San Francisco’s leadership is committed to a multi-disciplinary approach to building and wants many voices on the Board. According to Margie O’Driscoll, executive director, “As a distinguished engineer who has lived and worked around the world, Steve is natural fit and an excellent addition to the Board.”

Based in San Francisco, Burrows leads a number of major multidisciplinary projects around the world. He has held a number of global and regional leadership positions during his 28-year tenure at Arup, including chair of the Americas Property Executive, and is a member of Arup’s Americas Regional Board.

Burrows regularly speaks at conferences in the United States and Europe, and recently participated in two “Engineering the Impossible” episodes for the Discovery Channel. He is actively involved with the Design Colloquium and speaks at universities around the US and Canada.

Burrows has worked on World Cup, Olympic and Commonwealth Games Stadium in Asia and Europe and was Project Director for the Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing. In 2009, he was awarded a CBE in 2009 by Queen Elizabeth II, for services to civil engineering overseas, the second highest honor that can be bestowed on a British subject.