Preston Geren Jr.

Early life, military service and family Geren was born in Fort Worth in 1923 to architect Preston Geren Sr. and his wife, Linda Giesecke Geren. Linda was the daughter of Preston Sr.'s architecture partner, Frederick Giesecke, a prominent Texas architect who founded the architecture program at Texas A&M University and served as Texas A&M's official campus architect.

Geren graduated from Arlington Heights High School and enrolled in Texas A&M's architecture program in 1941. He served with distinction in Europe, earning a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and a Purple Heart before his discharge as a first lieutenant in 1946. They had two sons: Charlie Geren, a future Texas state representative, and Preston M. "Pete" Geren III, a future U.S. representative and secretary of the Army. Geren and Lupton divorced in 1953 and he remarried to Colleen Edwards in 1954. He adopted Edwards' son from her first marriage and they had two additional daughters. During the years when both Gerens worked together, the firm's projects included the Landmark Tower, Arlington Stadium, the Fort Worth Convention Center, Welch Hall at UT Austin, and the Eller O&M Building at Texas A&M. Geren was named a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1973. The contract called for control over construction to be turned over to Geren when Kahn had finished the design, a provision that eventually led to conflict because Kahn felt that a design was never finished until the building was constructed. The museum trustees settled the issue by deciding that Geren would report directly to them instead of to Kahn, but that Kahn would have final say over the design.

Geren's firm designed Fort Worth's tallest building, Burnett Plaza.Geren's contributions to the Fort Worth skyline include Burnett Plaza (1983), Fort Worth's tallest building. Other notable buildings designed by Geren include the Clayton Williams Alumni Center at Texas A&M. With its lineage to Sanguinet and Staats, Geren and Associates was considered by architect Mark Gunderson to be the "primary 'branch' in the tree of Fort Worth architectural firms."

Philanthropy and civic leadership As a civic leader, Geren chaired the Trinity Improvement Association, was organizer and president of Streams and Valleys, was president of the Exchange Club, and served as a board member of the Fort Worth Children's Hospital, the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, and the Fort Worth Symphony. He was elected to the Westover Hills, Texas, City Council and the Tarrant Regional Water District. Geren was an active corporate board member as well, serving on the boards of Ridglea State Bank, Equitable Savings and Loan, Fort Worth National Bank, Gibraltar Savings Bank, First United Bancorp, Enserch Corp., Pool Well Service Co. and Ebasco Services Co. He co-founded and served on the board of Overton Bank and Trust.

The Clayton Williams Alumni Center at Texas A&M, a Geren-designed building that is home to the Association of Former Students.Geren had a lifelong association with Texas A&M, sponsoring seven scholarships at the university and receiving the Fort Worth A&M Club Lifetime Achievement Award. He also contributed to the Preston M. Geren Auditorium, named in honor of Preston Geren Sr., and the Frederick Giesecke Lecture Series. He was on the committee for the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum and served on advisory committees for the Texas A&M chancellor and president and served as president of the 12th Man Foundation at Texas A&M. He also created the Preston M. Geren Excellence Fund and the Dr. F.E. Giesecke 1886 Lecture Fund to fund speaker series and events for Texas A&M architecture students. In 2007, Texan A&M recognized him with its Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Later life In 1982, Geren merged his firm into Texas architectural firm Caudill Rowlett Scott, which later merged into HOK. Geren retired from the firm in 1984. He died after a long illness on June 12, 2013.