November 2, 2026
It is with deep sadness that we share the news of the passing of former AIA Trustee and Trustee Emeritus Charles S. La Follette who died peacefully on October 27 in San Rafael CA. He was 97.
Charles became a longtime friend of the AIA through his daughter Laetitia La Follette who would later become AIA President from 2020 to 2022. Laetitia fell in love with archaeology in Greece on a junior year abroad at CYA (College Year in Athens) while an ancient Greek major at Harvard-Radcliffe and went on to the American School of Classical Studies in Athens as a regular member (1977-78) and a Rome Prize Kress Fellowship at the American Academy in Rome (1982-84).
It was at a party in the La Follette home on Russian Hill during the AIA’s Annual meeting in San Francisco in 1983 that the Associate Editor of the AJA, Alice A. Donohue, urged Charles to lend his financial expertise to the AIA, and got him invited to meet with members of the Governing Board the next morning.
Charles went on to help with fundraising and with his wife Ellen hosted many parties at their San Francisco home. He also served on the Nominating Committee, inter alia successfully encouraging Elizabeth Bartman to run for First Vice President.
The Ellen M. and Charles S. La Follette lectureship was set up with lectures in Princeton, where Laetitia received her PhD and in Amherst where she taught in the department of the History of Art and Architecture at the University of Massachusetts.
Charles served as a Trustee from 1983-89, was voted AIA Trustee Emeritus in 2006 in honor of his long service and in 1991 was awarded the AIA’s Martha and Artemis Joukowsky Distinguished Service Award. In addition, Charles lead the successful National Endowment for the Humanities Challenge Grant Campaign as Chair from 1984 to 1986, providing dynamic leadership and expertise that enabled the AIA to attain its fundraising goals.
Charles was instrumental in stabilizing our finances and helping ensure the AIA continued to fulfill its mission.
A celebration of Charles’s life is being planned in early 2027 in San Francisco.
