Meet the Jury

RON ESSLEY, EMC2 GROUP ARCHITECTS PLANNERS, PC, MESA, ARIZ.

Ron has been associated with Emc2 GROUP Architects Planners, PC, for 25 years. The firm specializes in educational and professional office and church facility programming, design, and construction. Graduating from Arizona State University, Tempe, in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in architecture, he moved on to Washington University's College of Architecture, St. Louis. He received a master's degree in urban design in 1973 and became a licensed architect in February 1977. He opened an office in 1978 as a principal architect with numerous partners and later merged with Emc2GROUP Architects Planners, PC, where he remains today.

BRUCE HUSSON, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, SWEETWATER UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT, SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CALIF.

Bruce has nearly 35 years of public school district administration experience, including 33 years in the San Diego Unified School District. As the chief operating officer of the largest secondary district in California, he oversees all non-instructional business operations, except finance. He has been a task-force member of the Council of Great City Schools for Enterprise Resource Planning/Management systems development and deployment. He also has won national recognition for projects developed in public education. Bruce has a bachelor's degree in business administration from San Diego State University and a master's degree in school business administration from Pepperdine University, Malibu, Calif.

PATRICK QUINN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF SCHOOL SERVICES, ST. PAUL PUBLIC SCHOOLS, MINN.

As the Executive Director of School Services for St. Paul Public Schools, Patrick is responsible for plant planning and maintenance, food service, transportation, and safety and security. Since 1990, he has overseen the completion of more than $400 million in construction and building improvements, including four new schools — a total of almost 1.2 million square feet of space. He is a member of the AIA and the Council of Educational Facility Planners International (CEFPI), where he is a Recognized Educational Facility Professional (REFP). Patrick is a registered architect and certified interior designer in Minnesota, a certified member of the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB), and is certified in Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED). He was a staff architect at the Adkins Association inc., Architects, from 1978 to 1984, and a corporate officer from 1984 to 1990. He then joined St. Paul Public Schools in his current position.

LEO YANDA, DIRECTOR OF PHYSICAL PLANT, UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS, FAYETTEVILLE

For 17 years, Leo has been the director of the physical plant at the University of Arkansas. He also is a registered professional engineer in Oklahoma and Arkansas. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 1965 from the University of Iowa, Iowa City. During college and for two years after graduation, he did heavy-equipment design for Link-Belt Speeder. He later did aircraft and propulsion-systems design and research for North American Rockwell; engine design and research for Teledyne Continental Motors, Mobile, Ala.; and engine installations for Beech Aircraft, Wichita, Kan. He was the Associate Director of Architectural and Engineering Services at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, for 12 years. Leo also has been a member of the Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers (APPA) and the California Association of Physical Plant Administrators (CAPPA) for 17 years. He is a member of the Arkansas Department of Higher Education Advisory Board and the Arkansas Association of Facility Administrators.