Former Louisville architect elected to national board

By: Samantha Miller

Jill Lewis Smith, AIA, NCARB, of Louisville, Kentucky, was elected as a regional director at the National Council of Architectural Registration Board’s (NCARB) Annual Business Meeting. Smith was nominated to serve on the NCARB Board of Directors by Region 4, which represents the architectural licensing boards of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

Smith was first appointed to the Kentucky Board of Architects in 2001 and served through 2014. During that time, she served as secretary/treasurer, president from 2003 to 2005, and acting executive director from 2004 to 2005. In 2022, she was appointed to the Kentucky Board for a second time and served two consecutive terms as president from 2023 to 2025. Throughout her combined 18 years of service, Smith has contributed to numerous board committees and initiatives related to licensure, legislation, investigations, finance, and professional practice.

A dedicated volunteer and advocate for the profession, Smith has served NCARB in a variety of leadership roles, including Region 4 treasurer, vice chair, secretary/treasurer, and, most recently, as chair. She has offered her time and expertise to numerous NCARB initiatives, including the Regional Leadership and Policy Advisory committees, continuing education initiatives, Practice Analysis efforts, Education Symposium Committee, and multiple Architect Registration Examination^® (ARE^®) development activities. Smith has also represented NCARB as a member of the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) visiting teams, which evaluate college architecture programs.

From 1990 to 1999, Smith served as the city architect for Louisville, overseeing capital improvement and operational projects throughout the community. In 1999, she founded Civic Consultants Inc., where she has focused her career on advancing resilient, sustainable, and high-performance building design.

Smith earned both her Bachelor of Architecture and Master of Architecture degrees from Tulane University. She holds the NCARB Certificate for national reciprocity and is licensed to practice architecture in Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio.