Donald Barthelme (architect)

After studying at the Rice Institute in Houston for two years, in 1926 he transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1930.

[2] A highlight of Barthelme's early career in Texas was his work on the Texas Centennial Exposition, for which he was the lead designer of the exposition's centerpiece building, the Hall of State, which is considered a masterpiece of the Art Deco style[2] and is now the home of the Dallas Historical Society.

He was a designer on the Avion Village Housing Project near Dallas and later was supervising architect for the Big Spring Air Base in West Texas and war-related housing projects in Galveston and Sweeny, Texas.

He came to be considered an expert on school design, wrote and lectured extensively on the subject, and was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1955 in recognition of his work in school architecture.

[2] From 1946 to 1973 Barthelme served on the faculty of the Architecture Department at the University of Houston, where he was influential in helping to shape the program in its early years.