It is with deep sadness that we share that Robert L. Wesley has passed away at the age of 88. An architect who joined SOM in 1964 and became the firm’s first Black partner in 1984, Wesley made a lasting impact through both his built work and many years of committed civic leadership.
Wesley developed his interest in architecture at age 12, when he attended the grand opening of a new office building for the Universal Life Insurance Company, where his mother worked as a stenographer in Memphis, Tennessee. The building was designed by McKissack and McKissack, an African American-owned and operated architectural firm located in Nashville, Tennessee.
He received his Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering from Tennessee State University in 1960, and his first job was with McKissack and McKissack during his time as an undergraduate student. In 1962, Wesley received his Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Oklahoma, followed by his Master of Architecture from the University of Oklahoma a year later.
In nearly four decades at SOM, with 17 years as Managing Partner, Wesley worked on a wide range of projects in the United States and other countries, including Algeria, Australia, Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. In his home city, Wesley’s work included multiple projects at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Millennium Park Master Plan, and renovations at the Civic Opera House and the Chicago Symphony Center’s Orchestra Hall. Outside Chicago, he managed the design of the Miami University Art Museum, the EG&G Education Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Rowes Wharf in Boston.
“Bob was a leader who contributed to the history and pioneering work of SOM for almost four decades,” said SOM Urban Design and Planning Partner Doug Voigt. “He led the way in bringing his passion for design to many generations of young and aspiring architects, especially those in underserved communities, with programs encouraging them to follow in his footsteps.”
After retiring in 2001, Wesley contributed his professional expertise and experience to numerous civic organizations, including the Chicago Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the Chicago Area Council, the Central Region of the Boy Scouts of America, the Private Sector Resource Council, and the Newhouse Architecture Foundation Inc., for which he was a founding board member.
In 2020, the SOM Foundation created the Robert L. Wesley Award to honor him and to support BIPOC undergraduate students enrolled in architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture, urban design, and engineering programs in the United States. Since then, 25 students have received the award, and Wesley served as a juror and mentor for the award.
“The naming of this BIPOC academic award is truly an honor, for which I must express my sincerest gratitude and appreciation to the SOM Foundation,” Wesley said in 2020. “It is my belief that one of the greatest gifts a young person can receive from any authority, organization, or institution, is an education. And this award exemplifies exactly that. Education is one of those indelible rights that keeps our society strong, productive, and empathetic. When used properly, all of society benefits.”
In 2022, SOM Foundation Executive Director Iker Gil recorded an oral history on Wesley’s upbringing, education, and remarkable career. That interview can be read in MAS Context and in the archive of the Art Institute of Chicago.
We extend our condolences and deepest sympathies to the Wesley family.
