Mann Behind Headline-Making Research

Dennis Mann's research regarding African Americans in architecture has landed him on the front page of "The Wall Street Journal" and in "The New York Times," "Chicago Tribune," "Architecture" magazine and other publications. Most recently, he was featured in the National Organization of Minority Architects magazine.

About 15 years ago, Dennis Mann, University of Cincinnati professor of architecture, began working with a colleague to collect information for what would become the nation's first-ever Directory of African American Architects.

Since that time, he's continuously worked on updated versions of the directory, translated it into an online version, tracked trends regarding African American architects and surveyed those same architects.

His research efforts, part of a 40-year teaching career in UC's top-ranked College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP), have landed Mann on the front page of The Wall Street Journal in the late 1990s. And his work - performed in collaboration with Bradford Grant of Hampton University - has also been applauded in outlets ranging from The New York Times and Chicago Tribune to local dailies like the Dayton Daily News. Most recently, Mann was featured in the October issue of the National Organization of Minority Architects magazine.

"It's research work that needed to be done. It's the kind of painstaking work that we in academia need to contribute to the profession," explains Mann, who himself graduated from DAAP's internationally recognized architecture program (in 1964) before going on to pursue private practice and a graduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania (where he had studio courses with Louis Kahn) before returning to DAAP in order to teach in 1967.

While his research had enabled Mann and Grant to track trends in the field where African American architects represent about 1.5 percent of all licensed U.S. architects, its greatest value comes in the form of encouraging mentorship efforts at UC and elsewhere. For instance, DAAP sponsors an architectural summer camp for middle schoolers in order to build future diversity in the field.

Dennis Mann, right, in studio with first-year interior design student Molly California.

"By the time a student is in high school, it's really too late for him or her to begin to think about entering an architecture school unless the student is already on track with the rigorous coursework - like physics and calculus - required by all architecture programs. So, we're encouraging students to think about the career at a very young age. And the directory and the research that's gone into it can help middle schoolers and their parents to find role models and mentors. It provides another facet for exploring the field," explains Mann, who has received letters about how much the directory effort has meant to those in the field.

He recounts, "I received a letter not long ago from an African American architect who had just discovered the directory online. He wrote that he never saw a black architect when he was growing up. There was no one he could talk to about his ambitions at the time. He grew up thinking there was no one else around who shared his interest in design. He said that finding the directory was overwhelming for him, just to know that he isn't alone in the profession."

Dennis Mann with one of his many binders filled with data regarding his research.

It's that kind of feedback that makes the tedious work of the directory worthwhile, Mann states. He adds that his work is painstaking. For instance, recent new entries for the directory were developed after he received an e-mail containing a list of African American graduates from the University of Oklahoma's architecture program dating back 20 years.

Explains Mann, "I have to seek out from other sources whether these hundreds of grads are now licensed architects. That requires consulting other sources and might require a phone call or e-mail to each one. I'm always on the hunt for new names, but it takes a great deal of time and effort."

Among his other research endeavors related to the directory, Mann has surveyed African American architects regarding salaries, career opportunities and firm ownership. He's even tracked the rising numbers of African American women architects and second-generation African American architects.

Dennis Mann in studio with first-year architecture student Julia Jen.

Even after his 40 years of teaching and his nearly 20 years of dedication to this project, Mann has no plans to slow down his efforts. "Why should I?" he asks rhetorically. "I'm having a great time teaching. It's fun. I'm finally good at it," he states.

And as for his research regarding African Americans in the architecture profession, Mann claims the research has done more for him than vice versa. He asserts, "It's changed me for the better. There is a community of people in the profession passionate about this issue. We're more than a community of colleagues. We're friends."