Meet our 2026 President!
To the AIA Birmingham Community,
2025 was a year of important milestones and anniversaries, offering our chapter opportunities to both celebrate and reflect. AIA Birmingham marked its sixtieth birthday this year, and over the summer we celebrated our esteemed Executive Director Rhea Williams and her 20 years steering this chapter. At that gathering, I remarked to another attendee what an extraordinary group of people were gathered in that space together, and how grateful I was to be a part this profession, and more specifically, AIA Birmingham. The assemblage of talent, passion, creativity, civic responsibility, congeniality, and thoughtfulness was an impressive one. I am lucky enough to have literally grown up in this community: my father, Gray Plosser, was AIA Birmingham’s president in 1976, when I was in kindergarten. I am so honored to follow his footsteps, as well as those of the inspirational past presidents who have preceded me here.
Ilya Azaroff, AIA’s 2026 President, noted in 2024 that he sees the role of the AIA “as a catalyst, propelling each member forward, providing the resources crucial for success.” And, after this year of looking back on our history and celebrating the accomplishments of our members, it seems an opportune time to turn our attention to what comes next, and how our organization can continue to hold value for our members.
Understanding what resources would be valuable for our members here in Birmingham is an important undertaking. As professionals, we are trained to address the needs of our clients and their communities. As a professional organization, our offerings should address the needs of all our members. Whether you are a sole practitioner working on single family residential projects or a member of a large firm tackling institutional work, your professional needs and practice challenges guide our programming here at AIA Birmingham. If you have not filled out your member survey, please take a few minutes to do so: we need to hear from you.
As we move into 2026, our focus will be strengthening how AIA Birmingham supports architects in Birmingham and beyond: through education, advocacy and connection. That means creating relevant and compelling programming across practice types and career stages, advocating for our profession on a national and local level, and providing opportunities for our members to connect with our Birmingham community and with each other.
And we’ll continue what we know is working: providing quality continuing education, recognition of design excellence through awards programs, engaging with our larger community through chapter meetings and lecture series, and hosting social gatherings that help us know each other as colleagues and friends. But we’re also looking for the gaps and opportunities to do better.
I would be remiss if I didn’t thank our AIA sponsors. Not only do they provide financial support for our AIA initiatives and engagement, they provide us with the tools we need to help our clients realize their projects. They are invaluable partners in our work, and I encourage all of you to thank them for their generous investment in our profession.
Finally, on a personal note, I want to add that one of the absolute joys of the last six years of serving on the AIA Birmingham board has been sitting at the table once a month with committed professionals who care about architecture and this community. And while I have learned so much from them and certainly struggled through difficult issues and challenges, one of the best things about that time has been the laughter that we have shared. I don’t know if other chapters enjoy the same camaraderie as this group, but I have found such joy in gathering with my colleagues during our time together at AIA Birmingham. My hope for this year is that you will find similar opportunities to connect in both meaningful and joyful ways in 2026.
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