As America prepares to inaugurate its first African-American president, a major architectural firm is upping the chances we’ll soon have our first African-American Frank Lloyd Wright.  Gensler, the global architecture giant whose latest works include China’s tallest building, Herman Miller’s UK headquarters and various airports, hotels, skyscrapers and other monumental structures, will soon launch a scholarship program designed to spot emerging talent among African American architecture students.  The Gensler African American Internship Scholarship will support two senior students through their final academic year, with the top contender also winning a paid internship that will allow them to work at the firm.

Despite succeeding in other creative fields, Blacks have been woefully underrepresented in the world of architecture.  According to the National Architectural Accrediting Board, fewer than 150 African American students receive architecture degrees each year, and account for only three percent of all architecture graduates.  Or as Gensler executive director Diane Hoskins put it, “there is a critical need to support the education and mentorship of African-American architecture students and we are excited that GAAINS will make strides toward that end."  Submissions are due in the middle of this month, and the winners of the internship and the financial awards will be announced in April of this year.