Louis Isadore Kahn was an American architect, based in Philadelphia. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935. While continuing his private practice, he served as a design critic and professor of architecture at Yale School of Architecture from 1947 to 1957. He was born on February 20, 1901 in Kuressaare, Estonia. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, in 1924 and later toured Europe, studying and sketching architectural monuments. In 1941 he was in partnership with George Howe and from 1942 to 1944 with Howe and Oscar Stonorov. Kahn was elected a Fellow in the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1953. He was made a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1964. He was awarded the Frank P. Brown Medal in 1964. In 1965 he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate Academician. He was made a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1968 and awarded the AIA Gold Medal, the highest award given by the AIA, in 1971, and the Royal Gold Medal by the RIBA, in 1972. He died on March 17, 1974 in New York City, New York, United States.