Background
Coles, Robert Traynham was born on August 24, 1929 in Buffalo. Son of George Edward and Helena Vesta (Traynham) Coles.
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Robert Traynham Coles
Robert Traynham Coles, American Architect. Recipient Centennial award Medaille College, 1975, Alumni Achievement award University Minnesota College Architecture and Landscape Architecture, 1997; Edward H. Moeller scholar, 1949-1953, Rotch Travelling Scholar Boston Society Architects, 1955; named Citizen of Distinction Mayor of Buffalo, New York, 1997.
Education
Student, Hampton Institute, Virginia, 1949. Bachelor, University Minnesota, Minneapolis, 1951. Bachelor of Architecture, University Minnesota, Minneapolis, 1953.
Master of Architecture, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 1955. Doctor of Letters (honorary), Medaille College, Buffalo, 1977.
Career
Designer, Perry, Shaw, Hepburn and Dean (Architects), Boston, 1956-1957, Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson and Abbott (Architects), Boston, 1957-1958, Carl Koch and Associate, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1958-1959. Architect, custom design manager Techbuilt, Inc. (housing prefabricators), 1959-1960.
Coordinating architect Deleuw, Cather and Brill, Engineers, Buffalo, 1960-1963. Principal Robert Traynham Coles, Architect, Professional Corporation, since 1963. Langston Hughes Distinguished professor architecture and urban design University Kansas, 1989.
Vice president Buffalo Architectural Guidebook Corporation, 1979-1982. Consultant housing research Union Carbide Corporation, 1963. Visiting professor State University of New York, Buffalo, summer 1967, University Kansas, 1969.
Vice president Eastside Community Organization Inc., 1965-1968, president, 1968-1977. Chairman Committee for an Urban University, 1966-1967, Goals for Metropolitan Buffalo, 1967-1968. President Community Planning Assistance Center Western New York, Inc., 1972-1974, Architectural Museum and Resource Center, 1980-1984.
Member New York State Board for Architecture, 1984-1994, vice chairman, 1990, chairman, 1991. Associate professor architecture Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, 1990-1995. Member jury United States Post Office National Design Competition, Washington, District of Columbia, 1994, City Plaza National Design Competition, Lexington, Kentucky, 2001.
Chair jury, New York State Association Architects Design Awards, New York City, 1995.
Achievements
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Robert Traynham Coles has been listed as a notable Architect by Marquis Who's Who.
Membership
Member council Burchfield Art Center, Buffalo, 1989-1992, national advisory committee Arts in American, 1989, Erie County Horizons Waterfront Commission, 1988-1991. Board directors Build a New City, Inc., 1973-1975. Trustee Preservation League New York State, secretary, 1978.
Trustee Western New York Public Broadcasting Service, 1981-1987, honorary trustee, since 1987. Fellow American Institute of Architects (member national housing committee 1969-1971, national urban design and planning committee 1971-1973, chairman social responsibility committee Buffalo-Western New York chapter 1970-1971, director 1978-1981, national deputy vice president minority affairs 1974-1975, secretary College of Fellows 1991-1993, vice-chancellor 1993-1994, chancellor 1995, Whitney E. Young award 1981, James William Kideney award New York State chapter 2004). Member National Organization Minority Architects (treasurer 1976-1978, director 1978, vice president 1978), Alpha Kappa Museum.
Connections
Married Sylvia Rose Meyn, March 28, 1953. Children: Marion Brigette, Darcy Eliot.
- Father:
- George Edward Coles
- Mother:
- Helena Vesta (Traynham) Coles
- Spouse:
- Sylvia Rose Meyn
- child:
- Marion Brigette Coles
- child:
- Darcy Eliot Coles
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Born
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Nationality
American
Education
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1949
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1951
University Minnesota , Bachelor of Arts -
1953
University Minnesota , Bachelor of Arts -
1955
Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Master of Arts -
1977
Medaille College , Doctor of Letters