According to the Boston Society of Architects (BSA), one of the nation's largest chapters of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), civic leader Tom Keane has been named the new BSA executive director.
Keane, an attorney, comes to the BSA with a diverse background. He launched and held senior management positions in several business sectors, was a general partner in Murphy & Partners (a New York-based private-equity firm) and a regular columnist for the Boston Herald and Boston Globe Magazine. During his six-year tenure as city councilor from 1994 through 1999, Keane focused significantly on matters of design, architecture, development and preservation and on the ways in which they fundamentally affect communities and individuals.
His commitment to these issues led the BSA to invite Keane to serve as a public director on the BSA's board of directors from 2000 through 2004. At the end of his term, Keane was made an honorary BSA member. Keane also served on the editorial board of ArchitectureBoston, the BSA's ideas magazine, and currently serves as a trustee of the Boston Foundation for Architecture, a non-profit agency created by the BSA to support educational programs related to the built environment.
"The mission of the BSA is to articulate the importance of design as a public value and to support individuals and firms in architecture and related fields," said Jim Batchelor FAIA, 2009 president of the BSA's board of directors and a member of the search committee. "Tom's diverse private- and public-sector experiences make him a perfect fit for the position of executive director. As both a manager and investor, he has addressed the challenges of developing strategy, managing growth, building teams and assessing progress. As a city councilor, he effectively represented an extraordinarily diverse district and built support among disparate groups."
Keane succeeds Richard Fitzgerald, who held the position for 24 years before retiring at the end of December. Nancy Jenner, the BSA's long-time deputy director who served as director during the search process, assumes the new role of transition director.
"The BSA has been and remains in a singular position to make a profound impact on the lives of those who live in the Boston metro area," says Keane. "It is hard to imagine any issue—including education, healthcare, transportation, housing, crime, energy consumption and environmental protection—that is not considerably influenced by the built environment."
The Boston Society of Architects is a nonprofit membership organization for building-industry professionals and the public. For a photograph or more information on Keane or the BSA, contact communications director Genevieve Rajewski at [email protected] or 617-951-1433 x240. Keane can be reached directly at [email protected] or 617-951-1433 x220.