Jerome Sincoff (BArch ’56)

St. Louis

Jerome Sincoff is former president and CEO of Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum (HOK), one of the world’s largest architecture firms, as well as former dean of the College of Architecture and the Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design.

A St. Louis native, Sincoff graduated from University City High School in 1951 and earned his Bachelor of Architecture degree from Washington University in 1956. Following a three-year tour of duty with the U.S. Army’s Air Defense Command, he joined HOK in 1962, rising from draftsman to design and production architect to project manager to office-managing principal and, in 1982, to corporate vice-chairman. He became president and CEO in 1990.

Sincoff has served as project executive for numerous large-scale developments, including the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.; Mobil Headquarters in Fairfax, VA; BP America Headquarters in Cleveland; One Civic Center Plaza in Denver; and Bristol-Myers Squibb Headquarters in Lawrenceville, NJ. Major St. Louis-area projects include One Bell Corporate Center; the Nestle Purina Headquarters; the Edward Jones building, and the preservation and renovation of Union Station. In addition, Sincoff was the driving force behind the establishment, in 1995, of HOK University, which provides online courses to HOK employees in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia.

At Washington University, Sincoff served as dean of architecture in 2005 and 2006 and currently serves on the Sam Fox School National Council. He previously served as the Ethan A.H. Shepley Trustee; chaired both the Alumni Board of Governors and the Architecture National Council; and co-chaired the Sam Fox School capital campaign. In 2004 he was one of seven recipients of the University’s Distinguished Alumni Award and he also has received the Architecture Dean’s Medal for service (1999) and the Architecture Distinguished Alumni Award (1997). Sincoff and his wife, Suzanne, are Life Members of the Eliot Society and have provided a fund to support the Jerome J. and Suzanne M. Sincoff Endowed Scholarship in the Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design.

A Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, Sincoff is a co-founder of the AIA’s Large-Firm Roundtable and the first architect elected chairman of the Construction Industry Roundtable. He also served on the Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences and was a member of the National Building Research Board. Sincoff is past president of The Saint Louis Art Museum’s Board of Commissioners and serves as chair of the museum’s Expansion Advisory Committee.

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