James F. Williamson

Jim is an architect in Memphis. Following his sophomore year at W&L, he transferred to Rhodes College, from which he graduated in 1968. As a student he participated in the civil rights movement, marching with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers’ strike. During the Vietnam War he served as a naval officer. In 1969 he married Margaret Early Williamson, who's known as Peggy.

Following his military service Jim obtained two master’s degrees in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. On returning to Memphis he established his own architectural practice and became active in local historic preservation work. His first major commission was the restoration of a historic movie palace.Other projects have included a ballet studio and teaching facility, a number of new churches, the restoration of historic cathedrals in Memphis and Rochester, N.Y., and his own vacation cottage in the Blue Ridge mountains. He also collaborated on a plan for downtown Memphis with the Philadelphia firm of Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates. Jim has received numerous design awards, and his architectural work has been published internationally. In 2005 he was elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects. His work is highlighted on his web site.

In addition to his professional practice he has taught at Yale, the University of Pennsylvania and Rhodes College, and is currently an adjunct professor of architecture at the University of Memphis.

Jim writes as an avocation. A novel, The Architect, was published last year by Cold Tree Press and his biography of an ancestor, Col. Thomas Williamson, was featured in the Tennessee Historical Quarterly. In their spare time, Jim and Peggy enjoy sailing, tennis and fly fishing.