It is a great honour to be the newly elected President of the DIA chapter.  Having carried out the role of VP under the steady leadership of Fíona Canavan since 2023, I hope to build on her foundations. The DIA is an active chapter, and this is testament to our committed team of council members. I hope to strengthen further our professional community through our engaging programme of events. The DIA chapter area is progressive and dynamic, constantly growing and developing to meet the needs of its communities.  I look forward to yet again celebrating the exemplary projects that the DIA chapter delivers at the awards later this year. 

For those of you that don’t know me, I am an architect living in rural Perthshire on our family arable farm. I have worked in both public and private sectors, working on projects from small scale domestic work, right through to large scale multidisciplinary and multi-stakeholder projects. I currently work at the University of Dundee as the Professional Studies Advisor, supporting students in practice and teaching/delivering the Part 3 courses. I am an active member of the RIAS Education Committee, and I have been a DIA Council member since 2020. I am a Part 3 examiner, and I am also employed by the ARB, evaluating records under the mandatory CPD scheme. 

My strong links with academia and practice put me in a unique position to help bridge the gap between studying and practicing. The proposed changes to the ARB academic and practical outcomes, alongside a proposed mandatory mentorship requirement for all registered architects, means changes are a foot.  I hope to support local practices, chapter members and emerging architects to navigate these changes.

 My principal aim is to represent our chapter members on the issues that are important to them and to advocate at both chapter and national level for the DIA.  I will work alongside our enthusiastic and dedicated council members to achieve this.  I encourage you to engage with the DIA and reach out if there is anything we can do to support you in practice.

 I am excited to see what the next two years will bring and I look forward to meeting more of you at our events.

Jenni Shanks

DIA President