Rapson Influenced Minnesota’s Design Culture

Ralph Rapson (Architecture ’40) was not a native Minnesotan—he was born in Michigan in 1914—yet it is hard to find another individual who has had as far-reaching an influence on the state’s design culture. A nationally respected architect with international projects under his belt by midcentury, he turned down the directorship of the Institute of Design in Chicago and moved to Minneapolis to head the University of Minnesota’s School of Architecture from 1954 to 1984. When he passed away in 2008, he was among the world’s oldest practicing architects.