Van B. Bruner, Jr., FAIA Presented with the Prestigious Louis Goettelmann Award

VOORHEES:  AIA West Jersey presented the prestigious Louis Goettelmann Award to Mr. Van B. Bruner, Jr., FAIA, for his commitment and exemplary service to the profession and the West Jersey Chapter of AIA.  The award was presented to him by William Fearon, AIA Past President, West Jersey Chapter.

Mr. Van B. Bruner, Jr., FAIA, has been dedicated to serving and enriching the community around him. Born in 1931, in Washington D.C. and spending most of his youth in our nation’s capitol, he first arrived in New Jersey in 1945 and went on to attend both Haddon Heights and Woodbury High Schools. Ever since his adolescent years, he has been a leader in his community. Excelling at both the high and low hurdles, he earned a track scholarship in high school to the University of Michigan where he went on to break a 25 year old university indoor track hurdle record. After graduating from the University of Michigan with a degree in Commercial Art, he married his wife Lillian Almond and then made the decision to join the United States Air Force. Demonstrating the courage and bravery of a leader, he trained to fly the propeller driven re-fueling planes and helped keep the American aircraft in the sky around the clock during the Cold War. After leaving the USAF in 1957, he attended Drexel Institute and began to study architecture. After graduating from Drexel, he  worked with some of the most well known architects in Philadelphia such as Vincent Kling and Louis Goettelmann 2nd. It was in 1968 that he started his own practice, The Bruner Firm, while being Department Chairman of the Building Construction Engineering Technology of the Spring Garden Institute of Philadelphia. Mr. Bruner, Jr., FAIA, helped set a precedent when he became the 2nd Black Vice President of the National American Institute of Architects and during his time there he helped to create Community Design Centers throughout the United States, the Minority Disadvantage Scholarship, and recognition of Black Architects within the society. In 1975, he was awarded the Whitney Young Award for his Civil Rights actions during the 1960 -70 and received the designation of Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, (FAIA) while participating in the National AIA. Throughout its years, the Bruner Firm has been a leader in civic design and development completing such projects as the CCMUA Building, Gloucester County Superintendent Office Building, Third World Culture Center in Princeton, New Jersey, and the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Burlington, New Jersey.

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The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has been the leading professional membership association for licensed architects, emerging professionals, and allied partners since 1857. Through education, legislative and regulatory development, professional education, and research, the AIA and its more than 83,000 members express their commitment to excellence in design and livability in our nation’s buildings and communities.