Tucker rates physics, music important to career

HUNTINGTON-- Huntington native Edward W. Tucker was introduced to architecture at the age of 16.

"I would run blueprints for my uncle and a local architect after school," he said. "My uncles and grandfathers were architects, so I grew up around the business. I always liked building things."

Little did he know that years later he would be responsible for managing projects that included the Eskind Biomedical Library, Stallworth Rehabilitation Hospital, dozens of research laboratories, and most of all, becoming the principal and president of his own architectural firm.

Tucker earned a bachelor's degree of architecture at the University of Tennessee in 1982. He found the subjects of physics (for problem solving), English (for communication skills), and music (for public speaking), to be the most beneficial for his career. Tucker continued his career in Nashville working for two firms, Barge Waggoner Sumner & Cannon and Adkisson Harrison & Rick, until 1990.

"I saw the growth that was taking place there and enjoyed the larger city feel," Tucker said. "I thought it would be a good place for me to be."

He then joined the Campus Planning Staff at Vanderbilt University as staff architect assigned to Vanderbilt University's Medical Center.

"My job there was quite different than what I was used to because I was in the position of representing the university's interests in managing, planning, design and construction project," Tucker said. "There were so many talented people to work with in the medical center -- researchers, physicians, people who were recognized internationally in highly specialized fields whose desires for facilities had to be matched to the right design firms."

To be near his family, he and his wife Lynn Tucker moved back to Huntington in 1995 and acquired Dean and Dean Architects.

"My wife and I realized that our son was growing up without any family members nearby," he said. "We began to sense a need to be reconnected to our home and family."

From there, Tucker said he grew the business steadily through identifying staff with a keen interest in investing themselves in the profession and their community.

"Over the years, staff and experience level have grown with projects' increasing size and complexity," he said.

Tucker and his staff played an intricate role in drawing residents to the downtown area of Huntington when they designed Dr. Joseph Touma's and the Love's Hardware building lofts. In December 2007, he became only the second architect from West Virginia elected to represent the region as the American Institute of Architects (AIA) director of the AIA National Board of Directors. He represents Virginia and West Virginia on the board, which consists of AIA regional directors and officers from all 50 states and all U.S. territories.

"It was a great honor to be selected to serve on the AIA's Board of Directors," he said. "It was a proud moment during our formal introduction at our December meeting in Washington, D.C., to say that I was from Huntington, W.Va. We are responsible for launching strategic initiatives but also for things like oversight of a $68 million-a-year budget."

Tucker also is working on the interior designs of office suites that are under construction at the East Hills Professional Center, which is near the 29th Street exit of Interstate 64.

"Creating designs that add value for our clients and our community is what I like best about my job," Tucker said.

"No two projects are alike -- every day is different from the one before."