Cause of death Heart attack Died January 8, 1990 Name Paul Kennon | Children Two children Religion Episcopalian Parents Taylor W. O'Hearn | |
Born January 27, 1934 ( 1934-01-27 ) Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, USA Occupation Architect and Professor
at Rice University Spouse(s) Helen Ross Kennon (married 1957-1990, his death) Alma mater Texas A&M University, Cranbrook Educational Community | ||
Paul Atherton Kennon, Jr. (January 27, 1934 – January 8, 1990), was an American architect, a fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Dean of the School of Architecture at Rice University, Texas, USA.
A native of Shreveport in northwestern Louisiana, Kennon studied for his undergraduate degree at Texas A & M University followed by his Masters at Cranbrook Academy of Art, Michigan. He subsequently spent seven years working as a designer for architect Eero Saarinen (he got to the Cranbrook Academy thanks to a Eliel Saarinen Memorial Fellowship).
Kennon was recruited to Rice University as associate director of the School of Architecture and a teaching faculty member. He became dean of the architecture school in September 1989, just a few months before his sudden death of a heart attack.
In 1967, he returned to work with the architectural practice, Caudill, Rowlett, Scott, headed by his mentor William W. Caudill, for whom he had worked during his college vacations. He became a design principal and then president of the company. The projects for which he was responsible won a number of awards.
Kennon was the son of Paul Atherton Kennon, Sr. (1910-1986), a native of Tangipahoa Parish in South Louisiana, and the former Gladys Bookout (1910-2001), originally from Shreveport. The couple divorced; c. 1945, Gladys married Taylor W. O'Hearn of Shreveport, subsequently a state representative from Caddo Parish, one of the first two Republicans to serve in the body since Reconstruction.