Lecture Series: Tom Fisher and Victoria Beach

Thursday, October 29, 2026 | 5:15pm - 6:30pm CT

Thomson Hall (Room 202)

Public lecture by Tom Fisher, "Ethics and the Paradoxes of Place" followed by a moderated conversation with Tom Fisher and Victoria Beach.

Friday, October 30, 2026 | 8:30am - 12:00pm CT

Richardson Memorial Hall, Room 404

The symposium "Beyond the Law: How Ethical Standards Strengthen Professionalism" features Tom Fisher, Victoria Beach, and Karen Kubey, an assistant professor of architecture in University of Toronto, in an interactive workshop highlighting the impact of the code of ethics for early career professionals.

1 HSW CEU Credit will be offered
Richardson Memorial Hall
Tulane University, 6823 St. Charles Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70118

This lecture is open to the public.

The two-day symposium is organized by Casius Pealer, Professor of Practice in Real Estate, featuring Thomas Fisher, UMN College of Design, and Victoria Beach, Arch-IO. This symposium is part of the Fall 2026 Lecture Series and Public Programs: "Emergency: Planning and Adaptation."

Beyond the Law: How Ethical Standards Strengthen Professionalism reflects Victoria's past work distinguishing between Pro, Joe, and Schmoe ethical rules across professional fields, as well as an intent to focus on and uplift the ethical standards described in various codes of ethics instead of the rules themselves. And how doing so strengthens and informs rather than weakens or restricts professional judgment. 

A two day event sponsored by the Murphy Institute and the Louisiana State Board of Architectural Examiners. 

ABOUT THE LECTURERS

Thomas Fisher is professor, director of the Minnesota Design Center, and Dayton Hudson Chair in Urban Design in the College of Design at the University of Minnesota. 

Fisher served for 19 years as a dean at the University of Minnesota and became the director of the Minnesota Design Center in 2015. His research has focused on sustainable architecture, design ethics, and community-based service design. 

Recognized in 2005 as the fifth most published writer about architecture in the United States, Fisher has written 9 books, over 50 book chapters or introductions, and over 400 articles in professional journals and major publications. Named a top-25 design educator four times by Design Intelligence, he has lectured at 36 universities and over 150 professional and public meetings. He has written extensively about architectural design, practice, and ethics.  

Victoria Beach is an American architect, ethicist, and former local politician based in Carmel, California, who serves as the principal of the architectural firm arch-io. After graduating from Yale University, she continued her studies at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. She achieved distinction as the first and only architect fellow at the Harvard University Center for Ethics, where she helped establish the university's first required course in architectural ethics. Leveraging this expertise, she founded her Carmel-based design studio in 1996 to focus on how shared community covenants can resolve local design and political conflicts. In addition to her private practice, Beach served as a Council Member and Vice Mayor for the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea from 2012 to 2016. Today, she is widely recognized as a national writer and thought leader exploring the intersection of design thinking, ethics, and civic leadership. 

Questions? Please reach out to Ben Neal at bneal1@tulane.edu.