Nadine Isaacs
{{Short description|Jamaican architect (1942–2004)}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Nadine Isaacs
|image =
|image_size =
|caption =
|birth_name = E. Nadine Isaacs
|birth_date = 1942
|birth_place = Colony of Jamaica, British Empire
|death_date = 16 June 2004
|death_place = Kingston, Jamaica
|other_names =
|occupation = architect
|years_active = 1964–2015
|known_for = first female head of the Jamaican Institute of Architects
}}
Nadine Isaacs (1942–2004) was a Jamaican architect. She was the first female vice chair of the Architects Registration Board and the first female president of the Jamaican Institute of Architects. She headed the Caribbean School of Architecture, as its first female leader, as well as leading the faculty of the Built Environment at the University of Technology in Kingston.
Biography
E. Nadine Isaacs was born in Jamaica in 1942 to Ivy and Wills Isaacs. She graduated from the University of Sydney, Australia, with a degree in architecture. She then returned to take a position with the Jamaican Ministry of Housing, working her way up to become the senior executive architect.{{cite news|title=Architect Nadine Isaacs dies at 62|url=http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/61406_Architect-Nadine-Isaacs-dies-at-62|accessdate=23 October 2015|publisher=Jamaica Observer|date=18 June 2004|location=Kingston, Jamaica}} In the mid-1970s, she worked with the World Bank on projects in conjunction with the Ministry of Housing to improve the availability of low-cost roofing materials. Isaac's job was to assess the requirements needed to meet local conditions as well as price-point concerns.{{cite web|title=Development of low-cost roofing from indigenous materials in Developing nations|url=http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNAAB674.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304094213/http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNAAB674.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 4, 2016|website=USAID|publisher=Monsanto Research Corporation|accessdate=23 October 2015|location=Dayton, Ohio|date=1974–1975}} She joined the Sites and Services Division and worked designing and constructing low-cost housing, later joining the Urban Development Corporation before opening her own firm.
In 1986, Isaacs was elected the first female president of the Jamaica Institute of Architects.{{cite journal|last1=Wedderburn|first1=Joni|title=Designing Jamaica|journal=Wealth Magazine Home Sweet Home|date=March–May 2014|volume=1|issue=1|page=16|url=http://issuu.com/wealthmagja/docs/home_sweet_home_online|accessdate=23 October 2015|publisher=Pear Tree Press|location=Kingston, Jamaica}} She was re-elected for a second term in 1987, and that same year, she became vice chair of the newly established Architects Registration Board.{{cite web|title=History|url=http://arb.com.jm/html/index.php/about-us/history/|publisher=Architects Registration Board|accessdate=23 October 2015|location=Kingston, Jamaica|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304200029/http://arb.com.jm/html/index.php/about-us/history/|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}} In 1999, Isaacs became the first female to head the Caribbean School of Architecture and was the first female fellow of the Jamaica Institute of Architects. She also led the faculty of the Built Environment at the University of Technology in Kingston.
Isaacs died after a lengthy bout with cancer on 16 June 2004 in Kingston, Jamaica. Posthumously, an annual design award is given in her name by the University of Technology.{{cite web|title=UTech Breaks Ground for Training Facility at Lionel Town Hospital|url=https://www.utech.edu.jm/news/vol14iss4/index.html|publisher=University of Technology, Jamaica|accessdate=23 October 2015|location=Kingston, Jamaica|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305004111/https://www.utech.edu.jm/news/vol14iss4/index.html|archivedate=5 March 2016}}
Further reading
- {{cite book|title=The Agriculturalist|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=luFMAAAAYAAJ|year=1991|publisher=Caribbean Agricultural Communications Services|location=Kingston, Jamaica}}
- {{cite book|last1=Aldrich|first1=Brian C.|last2=Sandhu|first2=Ranvinder Singh|title=Housing the Urban Poor: A Guide to Policy and Practice in the South|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kyFPAAAAMAAJ|year=1995|publisher=Zed|isbn=978-1-85649-359-8}}
- {{cite book|title=Jamaica Architect|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AvFcAAAAMAAJ|year=1984|publisher=Jamaican Institute of Architects|location=Kingston, Jamaica}}
- {{cite book|title=Journal of the Indian Institute of Architects|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-adUAAAAMAAJ|year=1997|publisher=S. Kumar}}
References
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Category:20th-century Jamaican architects