It is with deep sadness that Gresham Smith announces the passing of Batey M. Gresham Jr., AIA—one of the firm’s founders. He was 88 years old.
“Our hearts are heavy today,” said Gresham Smith CEO Rodney Chester. “Our firm, our profession and our communities have lost a leader who inspired and impacted so many. His long-term influence is nearly impossible to measure, not just because he was one of our founders, but because his dedication, values and genuine love for both employees and clients truly defined our culture and what we stand for as a firm. We all owe Batey and his wife, Ann, a debt of gratitude for a lifetime of service.”
Gresham received his Bachelor of Architecture from Auburn University in 1957. He served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as first lieutenant from 1957-1959, and as a captain from 1961-1962.
Batey Gresham, along with Fleming (“Flem”) W. Smith Jr., FAIA, founded Gresham and Smith Architects (now Gresham Smith) in 1967. One of the firm’s first clients was the newly formed Hospital Corporation of America (HCA).
“While most architects were solo practitioners in the mid-1960s, we chose an alternate path,” recalls co-founder Flem Smith. “We were soon bringing people into our organization who had skillsets and talents that we didn’t have so we could serve a wider range of clients. Batey excelled in this search.”
Former Gresham Smith CEO James Bearden, who joined the firm in 1976 as one of its first 100 employees, recalls joining in the midst of a recession. “I soon learned that Batey had no intention of letting a slow economy hold him back,” said Bearden. “He forged relationships on behalf of the firm that continue to benefit us to this day. His legacy lies not only in his love of architecture and the built environment, but also in the investment he made in his employees. His leadership, mentorship and friendship have been a blessing to me and my family, and he will be greatly missed.”
Former Gresham Smith CEO and current board chairman Al Pramuk recalls visiting Batey in his office for the first time as a young professional. “What impressed me the most as I left our conversation was how kind and caring he was,” said Pramuk. “This is something that is still present in Gresham Smith’s culture. Batey will be missed by many, but no doubt it is how he treated others—making them feel like they had value—that will continue on through the many lives he touched.”
Gresham was an active member of the Nashville and engineering professional communities. A registered architect in Alabama and Tennessee, he served in roles with several professional organizations, including the Middle Tennessee Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the Tennessee Society of Architects, the Construction Specifications Institute, the Urban Land Institute, the National Association of Corporate Real Estate Executives, the National Association of Industrial Office Parks, the Young Presidents Organization and the Chief Executives Organization.
In 1999, demonstrating his dedication to his alma mater and the architecture profession at large, Gresham, along with his wife, Ann, also an Auburn University graduate, established the Ann and Batey Gresham Endowed Professorship. At the time, it was the first endowed professorship in the university’s School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture’s 90-year history. He was an active member of the Auburn Alumni Association and, in 2005, was recognized by the association with the Lifetime Achievement Award, which was established to recognize outstanding professional achievement, personal integrity and service to the university.
He also volunteered on the Board of Directors of the Alcohol & Drug Council of Middle Tennessee, writing in a 1999 commentary for the Nashville Business Journal, that volunteering on the board was “one way I can invest in the future of Nashville while participating in the solution to a problem that is hurting us today.”
Gresham’s commitment to employees formed the foundation of the firm’s culture that endures to this day. “Human beings comprise the foundation of the future of any enterprise,” Gresham once wrote.
There will be a private funeral service for Batey Gresham this week. The service will be followed by a reception for family and friends on Wednesday, August 10, from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. at Fig and Ivy, located at 2290 Moores Mill Road in Auburn, AL.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Putting the Metal to the Petal
The Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine was founded in 1985, but the organization didn't have a permanent home until May 2008. That's when the Michael Klahr Center, which houses the HHRC, opened on the Augusta campus of the University of Maine. The design, by Boston-based architects Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott, was selected from among more than 200 entries in a university-s...
| Aug 11, 2010
Great Solutions: BIM/Information Technology
4. Architectural Visualization through Gaming Technology Before 3D walkthroughs for client presentations were popular, HKS manager of Advanced Technologies Pat Carmichael and his team were working to marry gaming engines with 3D building models. "What's being tasked to us more and more is not just to show design, but to show function," Carmichael said.
| Aug 11, 2010
The softer side of Sears
Built in 1928 as a shining Art Deco beacon for the upper Midwest, the Sears building in Minneapolis—with its 16-story central tower, department store, catalog center, and warehouse—served customers throughout the Twin Cities area for more than 65 years. But as nearby neighborhoods deteriorated and the catalog operation was shut down, by 1994 the once-grand structure was reduced to ...
| Aug 11, 2010
Jefferson Would Be Proud
The Virginia State Capitol Building—originally designed by Thomas Jefferson and almost as old as the nation itself—has proudly served as the oldest continuously used Capitol in the U.S. But more than two centuries of wear and tear put the historical landmark at the head of the line for restoration.
| Aug 11, 2010
Let There Be Daylight
The new public library in Champaign, Ill., is drawing 2,100 patrons a day, up from 1,600 in 2007. The 122,600-sf facility, which opened in January 2008, certainly benefits from amenities that the old 40,000-sf library didn't have—electronic check-in and check-out, new computers, an onsite coffeehouse.
| Aug 11, 2010
American Tobacco Project: Turning over a new leaf
As part of a major revitalization of downtown Durham, N.C., locally based Capitol Broadcasting Company decided to transform the American Tobacco Company's derelict 16-acre industrial plant, which symbolized the city for more than a century, into a lively and attractive mixed-use development. Although tearing down and rebuilding the property would have made more economic sense, the greater goal ...
| Aug 11, 2010
Great Solutions: Healthcare
11. Operating Room-Integrated MRI will Help Neurosurgeons Get it Right the First Time A major limitation of traditional brain cancer surgery is the lack of scanning capability in the operating room. Neurosurgeons do their best to visually identify and remove the cancerous tissue, but only an MRI scan will confirm if the operation was a complete success or not.
| Aug 11, 2010
Bronze Award: Alumni Gymnasium Renovation, Dartmouth College Hanover, N.H.
At a time when institutions of higher learning are spending tens of millions of dollars erecting massive, cutting-edge recreation and fitness centers, Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., decided to take a more modest, historical approach. Instead of building an ultra-grand new facility, the university chose to breathe new life into its landmark Alumni Gymnasium by transforming the outdated 99-y...
| Aug 11, 2010
Great Solutions: Collaboration
9. HOK Takes Videoconferencing to A New Level with its Advanced Collaboration Rooms To help foster collaboration among its 2,212 employees while cutting travel time, expenses, and carbon emissions traveling between its 24 office locations, HOK is fitting out its major offices with prototype videoconferencing rooms that are like no other in the U.
| Aug 11, 2010
Gold Award: Westin Book Cadillac Hotel & Condominiums Detroit, Mich.
“From eyesore to icon.” That's how Reconstruction Awards judge K. Nam Shiu so concisely described the restoration effort that turned the decimated Book Cadillac Hotel into a modern hotel and condo development. The tallest hotel in the world when it opened in 1924, the 32-story Renaissance Revival structure was revered as a jewel in the then-bustling Motor City.
