1978 William Caudill
William Wayne Caudill (1914-1983) grew up in Hobart, OK. In 1937, he graduated from Oklahoma State University with a bachelor’s in architecture. On scholarship at M.I.T., he graduated with a Master’s in Architecture in 1939.
After his education at M.I.T., Bill Caudill joined the architecture faculty at Texas A&M University. There, he wrote his first book, Space for Teaching. Although he had never designed a school himself, the book would make him a pioneer in school design. From 1943-1945, Caudill served in the Navy. In 1946, he and Texas A&M fellow faculty member John Rowlett founded the architecture firm Caudill and Rowlett over a grocery store in Austin, TX. The firm moved to College Station and in 1948, Wallie Scott, Caudill’s former student, became the third partner of the firm. In 1949, Willie Peña, the fourth original partner, joined the firm of Caudill, Rowlett, and Scott. The firm got its start with a commission to build two schools in Oklahoma, in large part due to Caudill’s book.
Over the next twenty years, William Caudill established himself as an authority on school design . Eventually his firm had designed schools, colleges, and universities in 26 states and eight foreign countries. The firm continued to expand, and in 1970 turned public under the name of CRS Design Associates, Inc. with divisions in architecture, project management and construction, and engineering. Caudill continued to devote himself to education as director of the Rice University School of Architecture (1961-1969) and as William Ward Watkin Professor (1969-1971).
A popular speaker, Bill Caudill delivered more than 200 speeches at professional meetings and universities, and wrote 12 books and over 80 articles, imparting his knowledge and creativity to the field of architecture. William Caudill died in 1983 at age 69.