George Kassabaum

George Edward Kassabaum was born in Atchison, Kansas. He was the only child of George Kassabaum and Dorothy Kassabaum. From a very young age he expressed an interest in becoming an architect.^[2] He graduated from Classen Senior High School in Oklahoma City in 1938.^[3]

He attended Washington University in St. Louis^[4] where he met his future partners, George Hellmuth and Gyo Obata.^[5][6] He earned both a bachelor's and master's degrees in architecture before graduating in 1947.^[2]

Kassabaum graduated in 1947 and began working for a local architecture firm in St. Louis founded by two faculty members of Washington University.^[2]

In 1955,^[7] he co-founded Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum, now known as HOK.^[5]

He was national president of the American Institute of Architects from 1968 to 1969,^[5] and served as the 16th Chancellor of the AIA College of Fellows from 1978 to 1979.^[8]

• AIA Fellowship, 1967
• Honorary Fellow, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, 1969
• Honorary Fellow, La Sociedad de Arquitectos Mexicanos, 1969
• Honorary Fellow, La Sociedad Columbiana de Arquitectos, 1969
• Washington University Alumni Citation, 1972
• Missouri Architect of the Year Award, 1978

Kassabaum was a board member of Washington University and an Eliot Society president.^[9]

Kassabaum married Marjory Verser in 1949. The couple had three children: Douglas, Anne, and Karen.^[3]

Kassabaum died at Barnes Hospital, St. Louis, on August 14, 1982, at the age of 61, having suffered a stroke three days earlier at his home in Ladue, a suburb of St. Louis.^[5]

• HOK Co-founder George Kassabaum (1921-1982) on YouTube
• 60 Years of Design and Innovation at HOK on Youtube
• HOK website