Arizona architect Edward T. Marley, FAIA, NCARB, LEED AP, was inaugurated as NCARB's 2025-2026 president at the 2025 Annual Business Meeting in June. With over four decades of experience in healthcare, hospitality, and educational design, Ed is passionate about laying a foundation for the next generation of architects and ensuring they have clear pathways into the profession. Learn more about Ed and his vision for the year ahead:
What do you love about architecture?
It's the people I get to meet and work with. I really enjoy programming and developing concept designs with clients because I get to know them on a very personal level and understand what their needs and desires are.
On the other hand, I also enjoy the construction side because it allows me to see what I've created in reality. I enjoy developing relationships with the contractors and watching how they bring to life what we've created as architects.
Why was getting a license important to you?
I wanted to be an architect and knew I could only do that if I completed the licensure process. While I didn't know where my career would take me, I knew I didn't want to do drafting for the rest of my life. I wanted that title. I had made an investment in my education, and I wanted to make sure that I took it to completion.
Tell us about your path to licensure.
My first architecture job was with an architect I worked with in high school through something called the Professional Internship Program. At the time, we still drafted with pencil on vellum, and I worked on a variety of projects—small warehouses, house additions, and remodels. This gave me great exposure to architecture that not many people get before college.
After high school, I attended the University of Arizona College of Architecture and graduated in 1982 from their five-year accredited program. What I really appreciated was that most of my professors were practicing architects, so they had a keen understanding of what the practice was about. I felt well-prepared to be successful in architectural practice.
Back then, we had the old exam process with multiple choice bubbles and drawing exams, including a 12-hour building design exam where you drew a building in 12 hours. In Arizona, you could take four or five of the nine exams right out of school, such as the “Architect in Training” exam. These were the "book smart" exams, like structural, materials, and methods. After completing three years of experience, you took the remaining exams, including contracts, programming, building design, and site design. The exam was only offered once a year in June—you had one shot. I was fortunate to pass the first four about a year out of school, then passed all five remaining exams when eligible, getting my license pretty expediently.
How has growing up in Tucson, Arizona, influenced your perspective on architecture and design?
I've lived in Tucson all my life, and I really enjoy the climate and the people. We are in what we call the High Sonoran Desert. We have this wonderful diversity of climate zones within the immediate area, and I think that's what makes us very unique.
Designing to protect against that heat is obviously very important, but I think what people forget is it also does get cold here. We design our buildings with a lot of water harvesting so that we're conserving water on the site and not allowing it to run off, and just acknowledging that with water in short supply, whatever you can keep on the site when we do get rain is an important part of the design.
We're problem solvers at the root of our careers here. Being able to help communities solve issues in a constructive and thoughtful way is really important.
Tell us about your firm and the work you do.
For over 40 years, I’ve been a principal at Swaim Associates, a firm that was founded in 1969 by Robert Swaim. When I joined in 1983, I had already known Bob for many years and really appreciated the quality of design work that he did. It all started with just Bob and I working out of a small office on his property.
Now we've grown over those 55 years to a firm of about 21. My specialty is healthcare, hospitality, and office buildings, but we do a variety of projects, including work in the downtown area revitalizing older buildings. It's been a great place to work. Bob was a great mentor to me, and we've tried to pass that feeling of mentorship on to our folks here.
What are you excited to work on during your year as NCARB president?
I can't think of a more exciting time to lead this organization. I’m really excited to see how NCARB's Competency Standard for Architects is going to shape how we evaluate and assess licensure candidates in the future.
I think it's important not to resist change, and I see what we’re doing with the Competency Standard and Pathways to Practice as a positive change for the next generation of architects.
I think what's also really important to recognize is that I'm committed to ensuring that our member licensing boards are engaged throughout every step of that process during my tenure. Many of the initiatives we’ll be working on are a multi-year effort. Over the next year, I'm committed to ensuring that each initiative keeps moving forward so that when the next president steps up, that person will be ready to continue that on into the future.
Why is it important for NCARB to continue work on the Pathways to Practice initiative?
The Pathways to Practice initiative is essential for us to facilitate a bigger pipeline into our profession. There’s value in being an architect regardless of how you get there—whether through a high-school-only pipeline or an accredited degree pipeline, there's a place for you in architecture.
Not everyone is a design architect; technical architects are equally important to protecting public health, safety, and welfare, and some may actually be better at it because of their deep technical knowledge acquired through hands-on experience. To exclude them from the profession does a disservice to both them and our field.
We need to continue diversifying the profession, and recognizing the financial barriers currently in place is critical. Many underserved populations can't afford a five or six-year degree, they but might be able to access a community college program. Addressing these socioeconomic barriers is important, and it aligns with NCARB's mission to ensure accessibility for all.
