Two Mississippi State University School of Architecture alumnae were elected to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) College of Fellows for 2017.
Election is awarded by a jury of peers and recognizes achievements of national significance in advancing the architectural profession.
The 2017 AIA Jury of Fellows elevated 178 members out of a total membership of more than 90,000. Fewer than 3% of members have been distinguished with elevation to fellowship nationally.
The newly elected Fellows will be honored at an investiture ceremony at the 2017 National AIA Convention in Orlando, Fla., on April 21.
Anne Marie Decker, FAIA, principal of Duvall Decker Architects, P.A., a Jackson architectural firm, was granted Fellowship in the category of Design, which is granted to architects who have produced distinguished bodies of work through design. Her elevation represents the third elevation of a female architect from Mississippi and the only member elevated from the state this year. Decker founded Duvall Decker in 1998 with her partner, Roy Decker. Her architectural experience ranges from community planning, K-12 schools, state institutions, university buildings and affordable housing. She is recognized as a contributor to the advancement of the profession and is often invited to share her expertise as a lecturer, teacher, design jury chair and published author. She has been an adjunct instructor in the School of Architecture at Mississippi State University. She is a 1994 summa cum laude graduate of Mississippi State University where she earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree. In 2004 she was honored by the Mississippi State University School of Architecture with the Alumni Fellow Award for her achievements in practice. In 2015, she was selected to serve as Eminent Architect of Practice for Mississippi State University’s School of Architecture and Design. She is currently serving as a member of the AIA Trust Board of Trustees.
Daria F. Pizzetta, FAIA, was born and raised in Biloxi, Mississippi. She holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Mississippi State University. After receiving her degree, Pizzetta worked in Gulfport for Shaw Walker Architects. She relocated to New York City in 1984, working first for Ferrenz Taylor Clark Architects and then at Soo Kim Associates, Inc., where she was a partner from 1988 to 1992. In 1992, Pizzetta joined Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates and was named to the position of Senior Associate in 2000. When HHPA dissolved in August of 2004, Hugh Hardy asked Pizzetta to join a select group of staff to form H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture. She is now a principal at H3, where her projects have included the Botanical Research Institute of Texas’ facility in Fort Worth and the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Fisher Building. Her project for the Maritime and Seafood Industry Museum in Biloxi received a MS/AIA Honor Award in 2015. She chaired the American Institute of Architects/New York Chapter Interiors Committee from 1998 until 2002 and was on the Board of Directors for the AIA/NYC. Pizzetta is a member of the American Library Association and the Library Administration and Management Association. She was named the 1998‐1999 Alumni Fellow for Mississippi State University’s College of Architecture, Art and Design, and she continues to support the School of Architecture with a merit scholarship and by sponsoring co‐op students for yearlong tenures in H3’s New York office. She is also a member of the MSU School of Architecture’s Advisory Board, advising the school on student curriculum and funding opportunities. Pizzetta and her husband, Charlie Brown, live on Manhattan’s Upper West Side with their daughters, Stephanie and Charlotte.