Terry Rasco, WER Architect Founder, Retires After 42 Year Career

H. Terry Rasco, FAIA, Executive Chairman of WER Architects/Planners (Witsell Evans & Rasco) has retired as of October 1, completing a 42 year architectural career, and 30 years – to the day – as a principal in the firm he formed with Charles Witsell, FAIA, and Don Evans, AIA.

A native of DeWitt, Arkansas, Terry received a degree in architecture from the University of Arkansas in 1971, and began his career with the firm of Blass Chilcote Carter Lanford and Wilcox. Early experiences included work on the Baptist Hospital and the adjacent Medical Towers office condominium. From 1972-79 he was with the firm of Fletcher Miller & Dean Architects, and designed several private residences, apartments, churches and the Booneville High School, before returning to the Blass Firm in 1979. During this period he was the project architect for RiverBend Condominiums, Forest Park School renovations and Parkway Village Retirement Center.

Joining Witsell & Evans on October 1, 1983, Terry, Charles, Don and subsequent partners have grown WER Architects/Planners to be an architectural firm with a diverse practice of new, historic and adaptive reuse projects which have won two national awards, four regional awards and dozens of state awards for design excellence over the past 30 years. Notable among the firm’s projects for which Terry served as principal-in-charge are: The Arkansas Repertory Theatre, the Tyson Center of Excellence for Poultry Science at the University of Arkansas, the Coughlin-Saunders Performing Arts Center in Alexandria, Louisiana, the Bumpers National Rice Research Center and the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Rice Research Center in Stuttgart, the Alumni Center at the University of Arkansas, the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management at Camp Robinson, and the Easter Seals Arkansas Work Center. Terry also led the firm’s involvement in the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Center.

Terry was appointed in 1984 by Governor Bill Clinton to the Arkansas Architectural Licensing Board for two five-year terms and served as President of the Board for four years. He also has served on national committees within the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, twice chairing the design portion of the national licensing examination. Terry was appointed to the Board of Directors of the National Institute of Building Sciences by President Bill Clinton in September of 1994 and served for ten years.

Terry was elected president of the Arkansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1981. In 1987, he was honored with being elevated to Fellowship by the National AIA, making him the youngest architect ever so honored from Arkansas, and still one of a small number of Arkansans to be a fellow of the AIA. He now serves as the Gulf States Regional Representative to the College of Fellows. In 2005, Terry became the 13th recipient of the Arkansas AIA Chapter’s highest award, the E. Fay Jones Gold Medal, in recognition of a lifetime of “excellence in design, leadership and service” to the State of Arkansas.

Terry served as a member and past chairman of Arkansas Hospice; received two mayoral appointments to the Little Rock Arts and Culture Commission, serving a term as chairman; was appointed by Governor Mike Beebe to two, three-year terms on the Governor’s Developmental Disabilities Council; and served as a member and past president of the Old State House Museum Associates. He is a 30-year member of the Downtown Rotary Club, serves on the board of Easter Seals Arkansas, Little Rock Central High School’s Tiger Foundation and the University of Arkansas Alumni Board. Terry and his family have been active members of First United Methodist Church since 1973, where he has served as Chairman of the Board of Stewards, Chairman of the Board of Trustees and is currently a member of the Building Committee.

Terry is married to Mary Lou Cain Rasco, a native of Fayetteville. Together, Terry and Mary Lou have four grown children and seven grandchildren. He looks forward to traveling, playing golf and spending more time with his grandchildren.

“In design, architectural integrity means an honest use of materials, a logical progression of spaces and forms that follow function. Your reputation as a person of integrity is your most valuable asset.” – H. Terry Rasco, FAIA