Architectural Guild History Founded in 1958, the Architectural Guild functions as a support group of the School of Architecture at the University of Southern California.  President Topping contacted Whiting Thompson, the first Guild President and asked him to identify 8-10 close friends who would be willing to enroll 100 alumni and formally established the Guild.  Clint Ternstrom, Frank Gruys, Del La Vigne, Rowland Crawford, and Henry Silvestri joined Whiting and enrolled over 100 individuals many of whom were involved in design and construction, but were not USC Architecture alumni and the Guild was formally established.

The Guild forms a unique link between USC Architecture students and the professional community.  Its members come from all aspects of the architecture, design, construction and real estate development industries.  Guild student membership provides the opportunity for interaction between students and industry professionals. The Guild’s purpose is to enhance the quality of architectural education at the USC School of Architecture in the following ways:

• Developing the means for promoting the School of Architecture within the profession and the community and assisting in recruiting outstanding students and faculty.
• Initiating forums and other community events as opportunities to brink new projects and programs of special interest to the attention of the architecture profession and related fields.
• Providing leadership for securing annual funds for the support and improvement of the School’s programs and activities by means of membership dues and fundraising events.
• Providing fundraising initiatives for scholarship and traveling fellowships for outstanding students; for computer-related and other innovative studies; and for lectures, exhibitions, and symposia.