James W. Elmore Collection

James Walter Elmore was born in Lincoln, Nebraska on September 5, 1917. He graduated from Lincoln High School in 1934 and went on to earn his A.B. in Architecture at the University of Nebraska in 1938 and his M.S. in Architecture at Columbia University in 1948.

Elmore began his career as a designer-draftsman-expediter at Barber & Ross Co. in Washington, D.C. in 1939. After military service during World War II, he worked as a designer-draftsman for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in New York City before moving to Phoenix, Arizona in 1948. There, he worked as a designer-draftsman for Guirey & Jones and Edward L. Varney, Jr. until March of 1950. In 1949, Elmore became an instructor at Arizona State College in Tempe, where he introduced a four-year architecture major. In 1957 he headed the Division of Architecture in the College of Applied Arts and Sciences. Two years later, a School of Architecture was created at Arizona State University with James Elmore as Director. In 1964 he was named Founding Dean of the ASU College of Architecture. He served in that capacity until June 1973, when he returned full-time to the classroom and studio.

He retired from full-time teaching in 1983 and from ASU professorial duties completely in 1986. Always very active in community and professional affairs, Elmore served a term as President of the Central Arizona Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. He also played a leading role in the creation and development of the Rio Salado Project, which proposed to return water to the dry Salt River bed and so reclaim approximately 800 acres of land. Elmore died on April 19, 2007 at his home in Phoenix, Arizona.