Thomas M. Gallas, Hon. AIA

Thomas M. Gallas, Hon. AIA

Through his innovative leadership and commitment to community-focused neighborhood revitalization, Thomas M. Gallas, Hon. AIA, has made an enduring impact on the profession. Though he was not formally trained as an architect, he has nevertheless vastly improved the quality of life for the more than 1 million people who reside in housing designed by his firm, the Washington, D.C.-based Torti Gallas + Partners.

For nearly 40 years, Gallas has leveraged his professional background in corporate accounting to steer the firm through three generations of leadership. He has also championed design improvements in communities and remains focused on working with stakeholders to arrive at consensus-based designs that will improve his clients’ physical, social, and economic well-being. His insight and uncanny ability to fuse architecture and business have been invaluable to the profession, academia, and former President Barak Obama, who in 2016 appointed Gallas to the National Capital Planning Commission representing Maryland.

Gallas’ contributions to the business of architecture reflect the AIA Framework for Design Excellence, particularly its focus on Design for Economy and Design for Resources. He was instrumental in reshaping Torti Gallas + Partners, which had been a local service firm, into an award-winning, international practice strongly rooted in the ideals of place and community. He also envisioned and implemented strategic lines of business that serve communities, including a national affordable housing footprint through the HUD HOPE VI program and, similarly, an impressive footprint of privatized workforce housing in all branches of the U.S. military.

His commitment to AIA includes his firm’s membership in three chapters—AIA Washington, DC, AIA Potomac Valley, and AIA Maryland—and his own service to the AIA Large Firm Roundtable, where he served a five-year term in the late 1980s. Recognizing the importance of AIA membership, Gallas instituted a firmwide policy to pay chapter dues for any Torti Gallas + Partners employee at the associate level or above.

For more than two decades, Gallas has shared his knowledge and insights with the next generation of architects by teaching professional practice courses at several architecture programs, including those at the University of Maryland School of Architecture and the University of the District of Columbia. Through those classes, future architects are introduced to the critical components of the business of architecture.

Within his firm, he is a staunch advocate for emerging professionals and engages them in a broad discourse that greatly influences how his firm approaches sustainability and resource conservation in all of its projects. The commitments that emerged from those important discussions earned the firm an AIA IDP Outstanding Firm Award in the Large Firm Category.

Throughout his career, Gallas has clearly demonstrated his extraordinary ability to span business, education, and practice. His commitment and contributions in all three arenas are notable and continue to elevate the profession.