When asked how he would improve the American Institute of Architects, George H. Miller, FAIA, offers a mantra. “Communication, communication, communication,” he says, insisting that the organization needs to evolve into a stronger public voice for good design. A partner at Pei, Cobb, Freed & Partners, Miller recently received an opportunity to put his philosophy into practice. At this year’s annual AIA convention, he was elected to take over as the institute’s president in 2010.

Born in Berlin, Germany, and raised in Pennsylvania, Miller studied at Pennsylvania State University and joined I.M. Pei & Partners in 1975. For more than 30 years, he has worked on celebrated and diverse projects for the firm, including the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Museum of Modern Art in Luxemburg, and the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina, which is slated for completion in the year he assumes the AIA presidency.