Phil Freelon

Phil Freelon is the founder of The Freelon Group, a Research Triangle Park, North Carolina-based firm that joined Perkins+Will in 2014. After the acquisition of The Freelon Group, Freelon served as Design Director of the North Carolina practice of Perkins+Will, where he lead both Perkins+Will North Carolina offices in RTP and Charlotte and serves on the Board of Directors.

Freelon’s design achievements include cultural, civic and academic projects for some of America’s most respected cultural institutions. He led the design team for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and is the design architect for the National Center for Civil Rights in Atlanta. His portfolio also includes the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco, Emancipation Park in Houston, multiple library projects for the DC Public Library System and the Durham County Human Services Complex.

He is an Obama appointee to the National Commission of Fine Arts, a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) and a recipient of the Thomas Jefferson Award for Public Architecture. In 2017, Freelon was named one of Fast Company’s most creative people in business.

Freelon was diagnosed with ALS in 2016. He formed the Freelon Foundation and launched Design a World Without ALS, a campaign to raise $250,000 for the Duke ALS Clinic.