It is with a combination of sadness and curiosity that we announce William T. Cannady's retirement from Rice, after more than 54 years of teaching studios and seminars here in the School of Architecture. Some know him as Bill; others know him as Will. The "T" is for Tillman, so feel free to call him Till.
Whatever name you use, we all know him to be one of the most dedicated and energetic faculty we have had here in the school. Will is always in motion, always up to ten things, always doing them while thinking about ten more, and he does it always with astonishing enthusiasm, peppering his sentences with "wouldn't that be cool?" even when talking about the university parking committee.
We are sad he is retiring, but in typical Will fashion, his version is "retirement plus," because he will continue teaching his popular real estate seminar in the fall semesters. This course is part of Will's multijointed persona: he's the only faculty member in the School of Architecture to hold joint appointments both with the Jones Graduate School of Business and with the George R. Brown School of Engineering.
Knowing Will, he'll be doing far more than this for and at Rice - he has already agreed to continue chairing the parking committee, he's likely to still be a lunchtime regular at Cohen House, and he and his wife Angela will be leading a Traveling Owl tour to Italy next year. We're curious to keep watch as Will takes up, with his characteristic gusto, "what's next" - the motto that seems always up his sleeve. Thank you Will/Bill/Till Cannady, on behalf of your colleagues and your many, many, many Rice students.
Read more about Will's remarkable career here.