Kamphoefner, Henry L. (Henry Leveke), 1907-1990

Henry Leveke Kamphoefner was dean of the North Carolina State College (later North Carolina State University) School of Design, 1948-1973, and continued to teach architecture at North Carolina State Universtiy until 1979. Kamphoefner practiced architecture in Sioux City, Iowa, 1932-1936; was associate architect for the Rural Resettlement Administration in Washington, D.C., 1936-1937; and taught architecture at the University of Oklahoma, 1937-1948.

Henry Leveke Kamphoefner, the son of a Methodist preacher, was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1907. He attended Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa from 1924 to 1926 and graduated in 1930 from the University of Illinois with a Bachelor of Science degree in architecture. In 1931, he received a Master of Science degree in architecture from Columbia University, and in 1932, he received a Certificate in Architecture from the Beaux Arts Institute of Design in New York.

Kamphoefner returned to Sioux City in 1932 and privately practiced architecture there through 1936. From 1936 through 1937, he worked as an associate architect for the Rural Resettlement Administration in Washington, D.C. Kamphoefner then took a position as professor of architecture at the University of Oklahoma, where he remained through 1948. During his tenure there, he also worked as an architect for the United States Navy during the summers of 1938, 1939, and 1941. Kamphoefner was also a visiting professor at the University of Michigan during the summer of 1947. In 1948, Kamphoefner became the first dean of the North Carolina State College (later North Carolina State University) School of Design. He remained as dean until 1973, when he retired and was named dean emeritus. He continued teaching until 1979, when the mandatory retirement age of 72 was invoked by the university and Kamphoefner was required to leave. Following his retirement from North Carolina State, Kamphoefner became Distinguished Visiting Professor at Meredith College in Raleigh, where he remained from 1979-1981.

Kamphoefner's professional activities included acting as president of the Raleigh Council of Architects (1955-1956); as a member of the Board of Directors (1965), treasurer (1959-1963), director (1959-1967), and president (1963-1965) of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA); as a member of the Design Panel of Architects to the United States Navy (1964); and as National Endowment for the Humanities Humanist in Residence in Fayetteville, North Carolina (Fall 1977). Kamphoefner received several awards and honors for his professional work, including an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Morningside College (1967); an honorary Doctorate of Laws from Ball State University (1972); an award in Joint Achievement for Lasting Achievement in Architectural Education (1977); and a North Carolina Award for Achievement in the Fine Arts (1978). His 1934 building, the Grandview Music Pavilion in Sioux City, Iowa, was selected by the Royal Institute of British Architects as one of "America's Outstanding Buildings of the Post-War Period."

Kamphoefner married Mabel C. Franchere on January 5, 1937. He died in Raleigh on February 14, 1990.