DLR Group Appoints New Principals

48 employee-owners recognized, including 14 K-12 Education experts

DLR Group has appointed 48 employee-owners as Principals in the Firm, including 14 professionals who serve K-12 Education clients. These individuals represent the integrated design services of architecture, engineering, planning, and interiors and the professionals in the disciplines of finance, firm administration, and marketing. Leaders from all DLR Group core markets were recognized as well as new employee-owners from design studios Momenta, Studio Hive, Kwan Henmi, and Staffelbach which have all joined DLR Group in past 12 months.

“This has been a year of growth and the leadership capital in DLR Group is stronger and more diverse than at any point in our history,” said DLR Group Global K-12 Practice Leader Jim French, FAIA. “DLR Group is driven by a leadership culture and our new Principals will be instrumental in fulfilling our promise to elevate the human experience through design.”

The following individuals who serve K-12 Education clients were recently appointed as DLR Group Principals:

·       David Contag, PLA, ASLA (Overland Park, Kan.) – Architecture
·       Greg Cromer, AIA (Denver) – Architecture
·       Kevin Fleming, AIA, LEED AP (Riverside, Calif.) – Architecture
·       Cesar Garcia, PE, LEED AP BD+C (Omaha, Neb.) – Engineering
·       Audrey Koehn, ASID, LEED AP (Denver) – Interiors
·       Eric Loos, PE (Overland Park, Kan.) – Engineering
·       Kirk Madison, AIA, LEED AP (Houston) – Architecture
·       Karen Montovino, AIA, ALEP (Portland, Ore.) – Architecture
·       Aaron Persen, AIA, LEED AP BD+C (Omaha, Neb.) – Architecture
·       Penny Ramsey (Las Vegas) – Business Development
·       Jon Rasmussen, PE, LEED AP BD+C (Denver) – Engineering
·       Melissa Spearman, LEED AP DD+C (Omaha, Neb.) – Interiors
·       Michael Tome, LEED AP) (Los Angeles) – Architecture
·       Andrew Van Leeuwen, AIA, LEED AP (Des Moines, Iowa) – Architecture

About DLR Group

DLR Group is an integrated design firm delivering architecture, engineering, interiors, planning, and building optimization for new construction, renovation, and adaptive reuse. Our promise is to elevate the human experience through design. This promise inspires sustainable design for a diverse group of public and private sector clients; local communities; and our planet.

Featured

  • GeoCam and UCLA: Modernizing Campus Accessibility Mapping

    In early 2025, UCLA partnered with GeoCam to capture and modernize its pedestrian infrastructure data. The goal was ambitious but clear: to produce a high-accuracy, imagery-backed digital map of every sidewalk, pathway, ramp, and ADA-related feature on UCLA’s 419-acre campus.

  • Barbara Vick Western Branch

    Barbara Vick Western Branch

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. The Barbara Vick Western Branch has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Grand Prize award in the category of Renovation.

  • Opportunity by Design Framework

    Opportunity by Design

    Educational improvement efforts often focus on curriculum, instruction, assessment, professional development, and intervention systems while treating the physical school building as background. But school design is not a passive backdrop to learning — it is a structural lever for equity.

  • CU-Lock Haven Receives $1.75M Gift for New Entrepreneurship, Media Center

    Commonwealth University-Lock Haven in Lock Haven, Penn., recently received a $1.75-million donation from entrepreneur and alumnus Nicholas Subich ’17, according to a university news release. The funds will go toward establishing the Nicholas Subich Center for Entrepreneurship and Media, a technology-driven hub for innovation and experiential learning.