AIA Houston Recognizes Guthrie’s Sonia Greiner

Sonia Greiner had her opportunities to teach, but it was a 2001 visit to the Guthrie Center that roped her in.

A professional interior designer for 23 years, Greiner was serving as communications director for her professional association when former Guthrie architecture instructor Laura Malinin invited her to campus to get a better idea for a job posting for a newsletter. The posted job was to be Malinin’s.

“When I arrived, I was … I’m looking for the right word … sort of ambushed,” Greiner said. “I met Joe (Guthrie principal Joe Kolenda) and he made me an offer. But I was ready.”

Was she ever. Greiner was recently recognized by the American Institute of Architects Houston as Educator of the Year – an honor until now bestowed upon college professors.

 “This award was previously reserved for professors teaching at the university level, but our Honors Award Committee chose to change this rule so we could honor Ms. Greiner for her efforts in educating Houston area high school students,” AIA Houston Associate Director Mat Wolff said in a statement. “She has worked closely with our Michael G. Meyers Committee to help her students compete in our annual scholarship program and consistently produces the most participants annually.”

The Meyers design competition is special to Greiner. She knew the late Michael G. Meyers personally when he was a partner at the Kirksey architecture firm, where her husband, Terry – also a registered professional architect – is executive vice president.

“I’ve always enjoyed working with students in that competition,” said Greiner. “They get real experience creating projects.”

Besides creating projects for the competition, her students also do very well, placing and winning scholarships for college and for the University of Houston Summer Discovery program. And for Greiner, that’s what it’s all about.

“I’ve had the pleasure of watching high school students progress from high school through college and onto professional careers,” she said. “I couldn’t be prouder of their accomplishments.”

To date, she’s had more than 31 students earn architectural degrees from universities across the state, nation and world, 14 from the University of Houston. She’s had more than 30 students earn degrees in architectural-related fields such as interior design, engineering and construction management.

Greiner’s former students also share their teaching and knowledge. They regularly tell her that they have to teach their peer students at college how to use equipment that they already can operate. One former student – now a structural engineer – was asked to be a teaching assistant in an autoCAD  lab – as a sophomore.

“I take pleasure in having bragging rights to their success,” she said.

Guthrie Principal Joe Kolenda said that he’s amazed at how quickly Greiner, transitioning from industry, got to know her students’ strengths and interests and how she publicly celebrated their successes in class. He said she also recognized the need for her students to connect with others on a professional level to build a personal network of associates – “way before ‘networking’ was the norm.”

“To me, this formula of caring, showing genuine regard and modeling how to interact helped create a special bond that explains why Sonia knows how her students are doing professionally many years after graduation,” said Kolenda.

Greiner serves the larger community by helping AIA Houston with its reach into schools and by helping other teachers understand architectural concepts and how to incorporate those into TEKS – the state standards that she wrote in 2005.

“No other secondary school level educator working in Houston has done as much for the profession of architecture as Ms. Greiner,” said AIA Houston’s Wolff. “We are thrilled to honor her with this award.”

Greiner is pleased she’s able to combine her passion for architecture with the service of education.

“Teaching has been a very fulfilling career choice,” she said. “I’m able to give back to the community and the profession at the same time. I can pass it on to generations of students.”