1986 Master of Architecture
Borromini, Aalto, and Kahn

Douglas Oliver
Harvard University

was a Professor in Practice at the Rice University School of Architecture. He began his teaching career at Rice Architecture as visiting critic from 1997 to 2006 and then as a professor in the practice, teaching design studios, from 2006–21. His specialization was high-performance building design and the role of environmental acoustics in the design of buildings. He also taught at Texas A&M University, the University of Houston, and the University of Texas Arlington. He was a graduate of Texas A&M University and Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design (GSD), where he earned a Master of Architecture degree with Distinction and a Commendation for Achievement in Design. While at Harvard, he received a traveling fellowship from the SOM Foundation to study the work of Alvar Aalto. Prior to Harvard, Olivier interned for Peter Eisenman in New York and was his research assistant at the GSD. In addition to his position at Rice, he was also the National Design Director for the firm Huitt-Zollars. His professional work received twenty-four blind peer reviewed design awards over the course of his career including a “Progressive Architecture” Design Award for his Childs-Echols House in Houston. Douglas Oliver died on June 12, 2023.