37, Part 1, Mary-Jean Eastman, FAIA, MRAIC, Co-Founder & Vice-Chair of Perkins Eastman Healthcare Interior Design 2.0

Mary-Jean Eastman, FAIA, MRAIC, Co-Founder & Vice-Chair of Perkins Eastman is Cheryl’s guest today on the podcast. Today, women lead the majority of Perkins-Eastman offices and studios. However, it wasn’t always that way. When Mary-Jean Eastman entered architecture school in 1966, fewer than 10 percent of her classmates were women. What was that time like for Mary-Jean and how have women in architecture evolved to the more prominent leadership role they enjoy today at the firm and beyond? Mary-Jean shares, “We began to recognize the challenges for women and it became obvious that women were dropping out of the profession because of all these challenges. However, at the same time, women were entering architecture school in larger numbers and that made a huge difference. Our firm was becoming more prominent, and we were able to attract the most talented students and among them, many wonderful women. That is when our population started to change significantly.” Learn more about the history of Perkins-Eastman, how the firm responded to the pandemic in those first few months after COVID hit New York, and what changes are now being implemented in hospitals and healthcare facilities across the United States on Part 1 of today’s episode.
Learn more about Mary-Jean Eastman and Perkins-Eastman by visiting: http://www.perkinseastman.com/.
In Part 1 of Cheryl’s conversation with Mary-Jean Eastman they discuss:
What it was like at Perkins-Eastman during the first few months of the crisis in New York which was hit hard with a surge of COVID-19 cases, early on. What is like now for the firm to design hospitals, and how does COVID recovery play a role in this? What has Perkins-Eastman learned so far from the pandemic and the equalization of care? Today, women lead the majority of Perkins-Eastman offices and studios. However, when Mary-Jean Eastman entered architecture school in 1966, fewer than 10 percent of your classmates were women. What was that time like for Mary-Jean? Hear about how a young Mary-Jean Eastman wanted to become an architect and how, despite her parents discouragement, because at the time women just didn’t do that, she moved into the field anyway. How did Mary-Jean meet Brad Perkins and what led to their creation of Perkins-Eastman in 1981? The 1980’s were a time when women were trying to assimilate into mainstream society and what this was like for Mary-Jean and other women architects at the time. Mary-Jean has said that in her over 40-year career, her greatest opportunities with institutional buildings where the clients have often been women. Learn what these opportunities have been. When Mary-Jean saw that women in architecture were dropping out of the profession, she also knew that more women were entering the architecture school than ever before. When women comprised 45% of architecture school, it started to make a larger impact on the workforce. Perkins-Eastman at that time was becoming more established and was able to attract the best students coming out of school, who were often women. Mary-Jean has been quoted as saying, “Providing women a seat at the table and ensuring diversity remains alive and well, and is something that I have been and remain passionate about.” Listen to Mary-Jean unpack this. The world is changing quickly. The Center for Health Design is committed to providing the healthcare design and senior living design industries with the latest research, best practices and innovations. The Center can help you solve today’s biggest healthcare challenges and make a difference in care, safety, medical outcomes, and the bottom line.  Find out more at healthdesign.org.
In Part 2 of Cheryl’s interview with Mary-Jean Eastman, FAIA, MRAIC, Co-Founder & Vice-Chair of Perkins Eastman, Cheryl asks Mary-Jean to describe her firm’s work with Memorial Sloan Kettering. “Memorial Sloan Kettering is one of the oldest and largest cancer centers in the world,” Mary-Jean begins. “Wh