On July 9, 2015, the San Francisco chapter of the SOM Women’s Initiative hosted Julia Donoho, a principal at Legal Constructs and co-founder of the Julia Morgan Foundation. As part of SOM’s First Thursday presentation series, Donoho discussed architect Julia Morgan’s education and how mentoring informed Morgan’s ability to design the transformative works that changed the profession of architecture.
Donoho also discussed what can be done for Morgan’s work to receive the proper recognition that it deserves in architectural canon. When Donoho was on the board of the American Institute of Architects, she successfully nominated Julia Morgan for the organization’s Gold Medal, the highest professional honor in the field of architecture. In 2015, Morgan became the first woman, living or dead, to receive the award in the AIA’s 106-year history.