Philip Will Jr.

The Crow Island School in Winnetka, Illinois, designed by Perkins, Wheeler & Will and Saarinen & Swanson and completed in 1941.

Philip Will Jr. (1906–1985) was an American architect in practice in Chicago from 1935 to 1980. He was cofounder of the global architectural firm Perkins&Will in 1935 and was president of the American Institute of Architects from 1960 to 1962.

Life and career Will Jr. was born February 15, 1906, in Rochester, New York. He attended the Rochester public schools, Phillips Exeter Academy and Cornell University, graduating with a B.Arch. in 1930. As recipient of the Shreve, Lamb & Harmon Professional Fellowship, he was a member of the staff of that architectural firm for a year. He stayed on with the firm until 1933, when he moved to Chicago to join General Houses Inc., a designer and manufacturer of prefabricated homes led by architect Howard T. Fisher. In 1935 he left to form the firm of Perkins & Will in partnership with Lawrence Perkins, his former Cornell classmate and the son of architect Dwight H. Perkins. In 1936 the partnership was expanded to include E. Todd Wheeler as Perkins, Wheeler & Will. The firm first gained attention as architects of the Crow Island School in Winnetka, Illinois, completed in 1941. Will and the firm would develop school design as one of their specialties. In 1946 Wheeler left the partnership, and the firm was again known as Perkins & Will.

Personal life Will was married in 1933 to Caroline Elizabeth Sinclair, and they had two children. In 1937 he completed a home for himself in Evanston, where he and his wife lived until their retirement to Venice, Florida. Will died there October 23, 1985, at the age of 79. Crow Island School, 1112 Willow Rd, Winnetka, Illinois (1940–41, NRHP and NHL 1990) Blythe Park Elementary School, 735 Leesley Rd, Riverside, Illinois (1948–49) Lutheran Brotherhood Building, 701 2nd Ave S, Minneapolis, Minnesota (1955–56, demolished) National Center for Agricultural Education, Chapingo Autonomous University, Texcoco de Mora, Mexico (1964) Lutheran School of Theology, 1100 E 55th St, Chicago, Illinois (1965) Salsbury Laboratories, 2000 Rockford Rd, Charles City, Iowa (1966) Oakland Community College Orchard Ridge campus, 27055 Orchard Lake Rd, Farmington Hills, Michigan (1967) Scott, Foresman & Company office building, 1900 E Lake Ave, Glenview, Illinois (1967) Chase Tower, 10 S Dearborn St, Chicago, Illinois (1969) Abbott Laboratories, 100 Abbott Park Rd, Green Oaks, Illinois (1969)