Kevin J. Flynn, MArch ’79

Kevin J. Flynn, FAIA, is the executive vice president of Kiku Obata & Company, a St. Louis- and London-based design consultancy specializing in identity, editorial, and environmental design. Projects Flynn has worked on include the Madrid Xanadú shopping center, the Southeast Missourian, the Indiana Avenue Cultural District, the City of Mt. Sterling Illinois., Dot Foods, the Saint Louis Art Museum, and multiple new and historical renovation projects in the Delmar Loop. 

Flynn was elevated to fellow in the American Institute of Architects in 2010 and in 2020 was awarded the National Council on Architectural Registration Board’s Medal for Distinguished Service. Flynn served on the AIA national board of directors as the central states regional director. He has served as the national president of the Illuminating Engineering Society, president of the National Architectural Accreditation Board, and chair of the Accreditation Review Forum Steering Committee that brought together for the first time in living memory the boards of the five U.S. collateral organizations — the American Institute of Architects, American Institute of Architecture Students, Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, National Architectural Accrediting Board, and National Council of Architectural Registration Boards — to discuss the future of architectural education. 

Flynn serves as co-chair of the University of Kansas School of Architecture & Design Professional Advisory Board, as a member of the Sam Fox School National Council, and as chair of the Sam Fox School Eliot Committee. 

Lynn Hsu, AB ’96

Lynn Hsu is a humor writer and cartoonist for The New Yorker, with work also featured in Alta Journal, Air Mail, The Times Luxx, and The Wall Street Journal. Her cartoons have been commissioned by brands such as Le Creuset, Away Travel, and Wine Spectator. In addition to cartooning, she has written comedy sketches performed at ImprovBoston and short stories published in Medium and Space & Time Magazine.  

Hsu’s work in humor and visual storytelling has earned her nominations for the Thurber Prize for American Humor in Cartoon Art, the Pushcart Prize, and Best of the Net. Before turning her focus to writing and illustration, she worked as an architect in Boston, contributing to award-winning projects at firms like Sasaki Associates and Kyu Sung Woo Architects. During her architectural career, she explored printmaking, painting, and humor writing — creative pursuits that ultimately inspired her shift to cartooning. 

Originally from St. Louis, Lynn graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Washington University and earned a Master of Architecture from Harvard University. Her multidisciplinary background in design, problem-solving, and visual arts continues to shape her distinctive approach to cartooning and storytelling.

Melisa Betts Sanders, MArch/MUD ’15
Recent Alumni in Architecture Award

Melisa Betts Sanders, RA, NOMA, SEED, is the founding principal of BlackArc, a design collaborative dedicated to advancing racial, economic, and social equity through community-centered design. A licensed architect in Missouri, urban designer, educator, and advocate, Sanders is passionate about creating sustainable, equitable, and functional spaces, with a particular focus on disinvested and BIPOC communities.     

In St. Louis, Sanders has held leadership roles such as vice president of the board of directors for DeSales Community Development and president of STLNoma. She co-founded and served as vice president of the Landmark’s Urbanites and was appointed by Mayor Tishaura Jones to the Prop NS Stabilization Advisory Committee, where she focuses on the stabilization of vacant properties in St. Louis City. Nationally, Sanders was named a fellow of the Association for Community Design in 2019 and serves on its board. As the director of community engagement for Counterpublic, she continues her commitment to community engagement.  

Sara Velas, BFA ’99

Through strategic use of painting, typography, archival research, graphic design, light and sound, Sara Velas creates immersive, interactive artworks that extend, examine, problematize, and reimagine our shared experience of social space, history, and time. She likens her work to roadside attractions, novelty restaurants, and controlled aesthetic environments, and whether painting a sandwich board, designing a multi-language brochure, sculpting miniature mountain ranges, or fabricating floral bouquets, the most important aspect of her work is the synthesis between maker and perceiver— the creation of community for unexpected psychical revelations.  Velas founded the nonprofit Velaslavasay Panorama in 2000, where she creates and presents painted panoramas and immersive exhibits. The Los Angeles institution functions as a hybrid history museum, botanical garden, community center, entertainment zone, and contemporary art space.

(Photo: Forest Casey)

Adam Weiss, BFA ’05

Adam Weiss is the founder and executive creative director of Landscape, a San Francisco-based integrated creative studio providing brand strategy, design systems, and campaign production to clients pursuing intentional, sustainable, and influential change. He previously worked at Burton Snowboards and in a handful of digital agencies, learning to guide structured thinking alongside creative expression.

Weiss’ journey into design has been guided by an innate curiosity and a broad spectrum of creative influences. Initially drawn to industrial design through his love of cycling and the outdoors, he explored mechanical engineering, architecture, and business at Washington University in St. Louis before discovering graphic design — ultimately realizing that design allowed him to engage deeply across disciplines. Throughout his career, Weiss has championed design’s role in facilitating meaningful change — whether in the evolution of sustainable fashion, the future of health services, or the digital ecosystems that shape daily life. His work has been recognized by Communication Arts, Dwell, It’s Nice That, PRINT, Wallpaper, The FWA, and Awwwards, among others. He has spoken at San Francisco Design Week and for Google’s global creative conference, VISD.

Daniel Shieh, BFA ’16
Recent Alumni in Art  Award

Daniel Shieh creates installations that seemingly lead to otherworldly places, altering the viewer’s perception of each other and their surroundings. His work has been exhibited by Socrates Sculpture Park, LMCC Arts Center, Bronx Museum of the Arts, National Liberty Museum, Wassaic Project, Franconia Sculpture Park, Josephine Sculpture Park, and I-Park Foundation. He has participated in residencies at Cité internationale des arts, Lighthouse Works, ACRE, Anderson Ranch, Millay Arts, and Fountainhead. His work has been reviewed in Frieze, Interior Design Magazine, the Architect’s Newspaper, Hypebeast, and NPR WHYY. 

(Photo: Argenis Apolinario)