Dina Griffin to Partner on Design for Obama Presidential Center
Announcing the partnership in late June, the Barack Obama Foundation noted that IDEA “brings local knowledge and a track record for delivering excellence to large, complex civic projects.”
Griffin has been president of IDEA since 1998. Under her leadership, the firm has built a formidable list of clients that includes the Art Institute of Chicago, Lincoln Park Zoo, the U.S. General Services Administration, the City of Chicago, and the University of Chicago. Projects have ranged from serving as the managing architect for the Modern Wing at the Art Institute of Chicago to designing historic renovations for federal courthouses to overseeing the interior appointments for a state-of-the-art scientific research center.
Long active in the National Organization of Minority Architects, Griffin served as keynote speaker at the fall 2015 symposium organized by the Illinois School of Architecture’s chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architecture Students. In her remarks, Griffin credited the education and mentorship she received at Illinois with laying the foundation for her success as an architect and a business leader.
Griffin is currently a delegate to the Board of the American Institute of Architects, Chicago Chapter; board director of the American Institute of Architects, Illinois Chapter; and member of the Leadership Advisory Committee of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is a past president of the Illinois Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects and a past National Organization of Minority Architects Mid-West regional vice president.