AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas at Austin’s Architecture & Planning Library will soon have a new name honoring a pioneer in the architecture world.
John Chase, a Black student, enrolled in UT’s School of Architecture two days after the 1950 U.S. Supreme Court decision that integrated American higher education. From there, the university said he became the first Black person to graduate from the School of Architecture, become a licensed architect in the South, be a member of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and be president of the Texas Exes, the UT alumni association.
Now, he’ll have a library named after him, thanks to a $5 million gift and pledge from his son, Tony Chase, and daughter-in-law, Dina Al-Sowayel. The gift includes a $1 million pledge made in 2022 that created two new endowments in the School of Architecture.
“My father always said, ‘A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives,” Tony Chase said. “Our hope is that having my father’s name and story of perseverance and positive change affixed to this library will inspire future generations of students to broaden their awareness of what is possible.”
UT President Jay Hartzell called John Chase an “exceptional UT student and graduate” who used his “talents, creativity and ambition to design special places that brought people together.” Of the John S. Chase Architecture and Planning Library, Hartzell said, “It is fitting that his name will now grace a special place on our campus and will help provide opportunities for future architects to attend and excel at UT.”
John Chase’s career as an architect
UT said John Chase was an active volunteer at the university, serving as a member of the Development Board and Commission of 125. He cofounded the National Organization of Minority Architects and led an architectural practice with studios in Dallas, Houston and Washington, D.C.
According to the university, his earliest works included single-family homes, churches and small office buildings for the Black community, including some in East Austin.
He also designed the headquarters for the Colored Teachers State Association of Texas in 1952 – a space that was acquired, restored and updated by UT in 2018 and is now the John S. and Drucie R. Chase Building.
UT said John Chase was tapped to design 21 buildings and performed at least 15 renovations for Texas Southern University, where he taught in addition to helping devise the campus master plan. His other notable projects include the George R. Brown Convention Center and Harris County Astrodome Renovation in Houston and the Washington Technical Institute, Links Inc. National Headquarters and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. National Headquarters, all located in Washington, D.C.
The university said in total, almost 300 known buildings or renovation projects can be attributed to John Chase’s firm.
While at UT, John Chase met and wed Drucie Rucker, to whom he was married for 60 years. In 1992, he received the Texas Exes’ highest honor, the Distinguished Alumnus Award.
He died in 2012. He would have turned 100 years old this year.
