THOMAS KVAN, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning and Professor of Architecture at the University of Melbourne, formerly Professor and Dean at the Universities of Hong Kong and Sydney, is a consultant to The Coxe Group with a particular focus on Asian practice. He was awarded a Doctorate from the Open University, England, an M. Architecture from the University of California, Los Angeles, and an M.A. from Cambridge University. Prior to moving to Hong Kong, Dr. Kvan consulted with The Coxe Group full time. Before that, he was a principal of Suter+Suter/VVKR Inc. in Alexandria, Virginia, and a partner in The Computer Aided Design Group of Santa Monica, California. In addition to providing general management consulting, Dr. Kvan has instructed frequently The Coxe Group's Clinic for Marketing Professionals. Dr. Kvan has been an integral part of the development and delivery of technology and quality management services of The Coxe Group.
He is author of over 100 papers and book chapters on management, marketing, and digital practice. He has assisted many national and international organizations, including the National Committee on CAD Layering Guidelines, the IFMA (International Facilities Management Association) Computer Applications Council, the AIA (American Institute of Architects) Practice Committee to review the Handbook of Practice, and the US/USSR Committee on Housing and the Building Industry. He is a Past President of the Hong Kong Chapter of IFMA, founding President of The Association of Computer Aided Architectural Design and Research in Asia, and serves on the boards of several journals and professional organizations, including CIB (International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction) and IFMA. Dr. Kvan has instructed courses for professional organizations such as AIA, ASLA (American Society of Landscape Architects), APWA (American Public Works Association), SMPS (Society for Marketing Professional Services), and IFMA.
The Coxe Group is headquartered in Seattle (206 467-4040), and Dr. Kvan lives in Melbourne, Australia.
ROBERT MATTOX holds B.S. and B.A. degrees in architecture from Rice University and an MBA from The University of Michigan. He has devoted much of his more than forty years in practice to developing tools and software for financial and business management and assisting firms in financial management and in applying computer-based information tools for financial, operational, and human resources management. He has served as business manager of several architecture, engineering and planning firms located in the Midwest, San Francisco, and in Boston.
He authored Financial Management for Architects, published by The American Institute of Architects in 1980, and the revised AIA book, Standardized Accounting for Architects, and co-authored Success Strategies for Design Professionals: SuperPositioning for Architectural and Engineering Firms. He has conducted numerous financial management workshops for professional organizations and is a Fellow of The American Institute of Architects.
The Coxe Group is headquartered in Seattle (206/467-4040), and Mr. Mattox lives on Orcas Island, Washington.
LOUISE OSBORNE, a graduate of Wheaton College with a B.A. in government, worked on a consulting basis with The Coxe Group before formally joining as a specialist in executive search and human resources. Formerly the director of her own executive search firm, she has also been an executive recruitment officer at Chase Manhattan Bank, and prior to that a search consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton. She began her search career with Russel Reynolds Associates. Ms. Osborne has conducted national and international employee searches in a wide variety of disciplines including environmental, civil and industrial engineering, architectural design and management, marketing, strategic planning, corporate, consumer and investment banking, and facilities management. Fluent in Spanish, French and Italian, she has lived five years overseas working as an English teacher and interpreter.
The Coxe Group is headquartered in Seattle (206/467-4040), and Ms. Osborne lives in Litchfield, Connecticut.
PETER PIVEN is the Philadelphia-based Principal Consultant of The Coxe Group, Inc., the oldest and largest multi-discipline firm providing management and marketing consultation to design professionals. A founding principal of The Coxe Group, Mr. Piven has helped professionals in architecture, engineering, landscape architecture, interior design and graphic design firms improve their practices in the areas of overall organization, strategic planning, project delivery and project partnering, valuation and ownership transition, marketing, financial management.
Mr. Piven received a Bachelor of Arts degree with High Honors from Colgate University, a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Science degree in Architecture from Columbia University, and a Certificate in Management of Design Organizations from Harvard University.
Mr. Piven has focused his career on management issues in the design professions and was elevated to Fellowship in the American Institute of Architects in 1981 for his contributions in management. He was a Vice President of Caudill Rowlett Scott, where he managed the New York Division, and a Principal of Geddes Brecher Qualls Cunningham: Architects, which won the AIA Architectural Firm Award during his tenure.
Mr. Piven has held every executive office of the Philadelphia Chapter AIA, including President. At the Institute, he served on the Architects Economics and Compensation Task Force and on the Select Advisory Committee for Time-Databank. He was the founding Chairman of the Financial Management Committee that conceived and produced the financial concepts and instruments now widely used in the profession. Mr. Piven was the Philadelphia Chapter chairman of the 1976 AIA Convention in Philadelphia and national chairman of the 1993 AIA Convention/World Congress in Chicago. He facilitated the development of successful partnering agreements between AIA and ACEC and between AIA and the US Corps of Engineers. He is currently a member of the AIA National Ethics Council, which he will chair in 2004.
Mr. Piven speaks and writes extensively on management issues in Architecture, and regularly presents seminars and workshops on practice issues at regional and national AIA conventions and at Grassroots.
He instructed "Starting a Design Firm" at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design summer program, "The Design of Design Organizations" at the University of Pennsylvania, and the "Practice Seminar" at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is the author of "Financial Health" and "Acquiring Capital" in the current edition of the Architect's Handbook of Professional Practice, and is currently preparing an article on "Satisfying Clients" for the 2004 Handbook Update. He is the author of Compensation Management: a Guideline for Small Firms, and co-author of Success Strategies for Design Professionals: SuperPositioning for Architectural and Engineering Firms. Mr. Piven's book Architect's Essentials of Ownership Transition was published by John Wiley & Sons in February, 2002, and Architect's Essentials of Starting a Design Firm, which he wrote with Brad Perkins, was published in May, 2003.
The Coxe Group is headquartered in Seattle (206/467-4040), and Mr. Piven lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.