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| Principal Marcus Adrian graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1994, joined Mackey Mitchell in 1997, obtained licensure in 1999, and became a firm principal in 2005. Despite his relative youth, it was clear to the firm's shareholders that Marcus possesses great leadership skills and uses them in myriad ways to strengthen the firm. One of his first clients with MMA was the world-renowned Central Institute for the Deaf (CID). While neither he nor the firm had much experience in this area, Marcus quickly gained expertise by researching deaf education and asking how architecture can serve those with special needs. He was recently invited to speak on Capitol Hill on "Classroom Noise and Acoustics—The Unseen Barrier to Learning," a program sponsored by ASHA (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association). Marcus is a champion for developing expertise in design for special needs. As a result, he's working on deaf schools in Maryland, Delaware, Sunshine College in San Antonio, the Autism Project at Illinois State University, and the Southeast Missouri State Autism Treatment Center. He also captured the attention of Google™ and put together a team of architects to teach the software program "SketchUp" to students with autism at Touchpoint (formerly Judevine Center) in St. Louis. His 19-year Catholic-education background proved relevant as well as formative. Having served as architect for the Christian Brothers College High School (CBC) in St. Louis, he performed the same role at his alma mater, Saint Louis University High School. His was a project architect for the high-profile Saint Louis University Arena, and was part of the team strategizing improvements to all 27 residence halls at the University of Notre Dame, where he received his Bachelor of Architecture in 1994. He and his wife Angela, a speech pathologist, are co-authoring a book on design for special needs. A family man with three children, he lives in the City of St. Louis and is an active participant in plans for neighborhood development. |