Minnesota Architect James W. O’Brien, FAIA,
Installed as Regional Director of National Architect Council
Washington, DC—James W. O’Brien, FAIA, of New Brighton, MN, was installed on the Board of Directors for
the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) during the organization’s June 2007 Annual
Meeting and Conference in Denver, CO.
As the director for Region 4 (Mid Central Conference), O’Brien represents the following U.S. jurisdictions:
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin. The Mid Central
Conference elected O’Brien director in March 2007 during its spring meeting in Orlando, FL.
O’Brien and former NCARB president (1978), Lorenzo “Pete” Williams, FAIA, founded New Brighton-based
Williams/O’Brien Associates, Inc. in 1962. During the first 20 years, the firm designed an extensive amount of
multi-family housing for non-profit religious and neighborhood groups. In recent years, the firm has concentrated
on religious and municipal facilities, including the new Catholic churches in Grand Rapids, MN, and St. Michael,
MN, and the new Public Safety Facility and the City Hall remodeling in New Brighton, MN.
Registered to practice in Minnesota, O’Brien holds the NCARB Certificate for national reciprocity. He participated
on two National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) teams that assessed the architectural curricula at the
University of Illinois and the University of New Mexico.
In 2002, O’Brien was advanced to the American Institute of Architects’ College of Fellows—the highest honor the
AIA bestows on its architect members—in recognition of his longstanding professional contributions. O’Brien
attended the University of Minnesota where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in architecture in
1959, and a Bachelor of Architecture in 1961.
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The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards is committed to exemplary service and effective regulation
to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public. In order to achieve these goals, the Council develops
and recommends standards to be required of an applicant for architectural registration; develops and recommends
standards regulating the practice of architecture; provides to member boards a process for certifying the qualifications
of an architect for registration; and represents the interests of member boards before public and private agencies.
With the Committee of Canadian Architectural Councils (CCAC), NCARB has also established guidelines
for the reciprocal registration of U.S. and Canadian architects.
