Will and Nan Clarkson

For over 20 years, distinguished scholars and professionals have been visiting the School of Architecture and Planning to teach and inspire, all made possible by the generous support of Will and Nan Clarkson.

When civic leaders Will and Nan Clarkson founded the Clarkson Visiting Chair program in the School of Architecture and Planning in 1991, their vision was to engage students, faculty, practitioners and members of the public in knowledge-sharing and scholarship on critical issues in architecture, planning and design. Since then, over 30 Clarkson Visiting Chairs from across the world have joined the School of Architecture and Planning as scholars-inresidence, spurring rich dialogue and debate through a week-long series of public lectures and seminars.

Dedicated to the Buffalo community, the Clarksons have a particularly deep passion for Buffalo architecture. In 2011, they donated a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed art glass window to the Martin House Restoration Corporation for display in the reconstructed carriage house of the Martin House complex. The window was only one of two to survive after the original carriage house was demolished in 1962. Will Clarkson was also instrumental in the 1981 publishing of “Buffalo Architecture: A Guide,” the first national publication to describe the city’s architectural treasures.