S. Scott Ferebee Jr.

Northeastern High School in Elizabeth City, completed in 1969. The Charlotte Convention Center, designed by FWA Group and Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates and completed in 1995. S. Scott Ferebee Jr. (1921–2016) was an American architect in practice in Charlotte, North Carolina from 1953 to 1995. In addition to his practice, Ferebee spearheaded the establishment of the School of Architecture at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1971 and was president of the American Institute of Architects for the year 1973.

Life and career Stephen Scott Ferebee Jr. was born July 30, 1921, in Detroit to Stephen Scott Ferebee and Caroline (Cheatham) Ferebee. The family moved to Henderson, North Carolina, Caroline Ferebee's hometown, in 1925, where Ferebee attended the public schools. In 1938 he enrolled in North Carolina State University (NCSU) as a student of chemical engineering, but his studies were interrupted by World War II. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant of infantry in 1942 and was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, which participated in the Normandy landings. Ferebee was wounded shortly after D-Day and was evacuated to England to recover. He was discharged in 1946. He then returned to NCSU but changed his major to architecture, graduating in 1948.

Ferebee joined the American Institute of Architects in 1952 as a member of the North Carolina chapter and served as chapter president in 1964. During the 1960s many North Carolina architects were concerned by the high number of NCSU architecture graduates who left the state and in 1965, Ferebee's successor, Leslie N. Boney Jr., appointed him to chair a committee to explore the establishment of a second state architecture school in North Carolina. This committee lobbied the UNC System to establish such a program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, which was done in 1971. Ferebee served as the AIA South Atlantic regional director from 1968 to 1971 before being elected first vice president/president-elect for the year 1972 and president for the year 1973. As president Ferebee oversaw the completion of the AIA Headquarters and advocated for the better inclusion of women and people of color in the architectural profession. In 1972 he led a three-week cultural exchange delegation to the Soviet Union and in 1973 led a similar delegation to Poland.

Ferebee was elected a Fellow of the AIA in 1968 and after his presidency was elected to honorary membership in the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and the Society of Architects of Mexico. In 1992 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and was awarded the Wautauga Medal of North Carolina State University and admitted to the Order of the Long Leaf Pine in 2001.

Architectural works Matthews Elementary School, 200 E McDowell St, Matthews, North Carolina (1955) Lincoln Heights Elementary School (former), 1900 Newcastle St, Charlotte, North Carolina (1956) Piedmont High School, 3006 Sikes Mill Rd, Monroe, North Carolina (1959–60) Tarrytown Mall, 300 Tarrytown Center, Rocky Mount, North Carolina (1965, demolished) First Ward Elementary School (former), 715 N Caldwell St, Charlotte, North Carolina (1968) Northeastern High School, 963 Oak Stump Rd, Elizabeth City, North Carolina (1969) Hickory Ridge Mall, 6075 Winchester Rd, Memphis, Tennessee (1981) North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine, Raleigh, North Carolina (1981) Storrs Hall, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, North Carolina (1990) Tower Place, 28 W 4th St, Cincinnati (1991) First Baptist Church, 1306 Hampton St, Columbia, South Carolina (1992) Charlotte Convention Center, 501 S College St, Charlotte, North Carolina (1995)