Theresa C. Ridley, AIA

Secretary-Treasurer

Kennesaw, Georgia

 

Born in Tuscaloosa, AL where her childhood home was directly across the street from the football practice field at the University of Alabama, Theresa Ridley was destined to love football. Years later upon moving to South Louisiana she developed a love for food, especially seafood! During her High School years, Theresa joined the Boy Scouts Explorer Club for Architecture where she developed her love of the profession. Going on site visits, and reviewing construction drawings in an architect’s office gave her enough of a glimpse of practice to convince her to enroll and graduate from Louisiana Tech University with her Bachelor of Architecture.

Practicing architecture has allowed Theresa to experience the expanse of the profession. Her portfolio contains a wide range of building types and scales that include Commercial, Multi-Family Housing, Retail, Military, Judicial, Community Centers, Parks and Recreation, Big Box Retail, Ecclesiastic, Healthcare, and Aviation. Most notable on her list of accomplishments include City Court of Atlanta, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Hughes Spalding, and the Maynard H. Jackson, Jr. International Terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport.

Being a member of the American Institute of Architects has become much more than an abbreviation that follows her name. Theresa’s involvement with AIA began when someone appointed her to champion AIA Atlanta’s Strategic Plan rollout. This started her service to AIA Atlanta as Membership Director where she helped start the netWorking Women’s group, and the creation of the Northeast Section. As President of AIA Atlanta, she started the Urbanfronts event, and was responsible for moving the AIA Office to the United Way Building. She moved on to serve on the AIA Georgia Board as President. She was also a Co-Chair for the Tours at the AIA National Convention in Atlanta. As Georgia President, Theresa established the Equity in Architecture Committee, voted at AIA National Convention to allow graduate architects to begin taking the architectural exam earlier, and saw legislation signed by the Governor regarding Architect’s and Engineer’s Service contracts.  She began serving as a Trustee with the AIA Trust in 2022.