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Alumni Awards List

ROHN GROTENHUIS developed a taste for architecture during vocational drafting at Truman High School in Independence, Missouri, under the instruction of Jack DeSelms. He has continued to develop the passion for the past five years as a senior associate in the employ of Rafael Architects in Kansas City while working on such projects as the Hilltop Child Care Facility located on the campus of the University of Kansas. Recently completed is the renovation and addition to the International Student Center at KSU. Also included in his portfolio at Rafael Architects are the Sprint PCS Network Operations Control Center, the Fred Allenbrand Criminal Justice Complex, the North Kansas City Public Library Renovation and Addition, and various church and corporate campus master plans. For two years, Rohn worked on state projects as the manager of the Kansas office for Rafael Architects. Later this month, Rohn will receive Kansas City Chapter AIA Awards of Excellence for four projects: the International Student Center, Hilltop Child Development Center, the Fred Allenbrand Criminal Justice Complex and the New Life Community Church.

Upon receiving the Bachelor of Architecture in 1990, Rohn began working with Gould Evans Associates in Kansas City where his first assignment happened to be the final Urban Design Studio project he had worked on as a fifth-year architecture student. That knowledge of the site and program for the J.A. Rogers Academy of Liberal Arts and Sciences enabled Rohn to design a project that would eventually be given an AIA Award for Unbuilt Architecture in 1994 by the Kansas City Chapter of the AIA, as well as an award for built work in 1996. In 1995, J.A. Rogers Academy of Liberal Arts and Sciences was honored by the Central States Region AIA with an award of excellence. Also during his years at Gould Evans Associates, Rohn had the good fortune to work with Bob and Karen Gould on the renovation of their Kansas City residence, published in Home magazine in 1995, as well as to receive two AIA/Arts and Crafts awards. In 1994, working with Mel Solomon of Solomon Associates and Gould Evans Associates on Congregation Beth Torah, Rohn was able to explore all aspects of the design profession from site planning to furniture design. Besides the AIA/Arts and Crafts award Congregation Beth Torah would receive, the synagogue would also be honored by the Central States Regional AIA with an award of excellence. He continued to consult with Mel Solomon on synagogue projects throughout the country until his employment with Rafael Architects.

Rohn is a registered architect in the state of Missouri and a member of the American Institute of Architects. He continues to reside in Independence with his wife Michele and two (perhaps three by the time this is read) children.