SOM is proud to share the elevation of Susan Bartley, AIA, LEED AP, DBIA and Tannar Whitney, AIA, LEED AP to Managing Principals. Both have led significant projects from the LA studio and bolstered the growth of the Southern California practice. Susan is an expert at realizing complex projects for civic institutions, enabling design to flourish in the public realm. She is particularly adept at design-build delivery, including the highly-acclaimed United States Courthouse in the Los Angeles Civic Center and the Airport Police Facility at LAX. Currently, she’s leading SOM’s work as Architect of Record on the David Geffen Galleries at LACMA, opening in 2026. Prior to SOM, she led the 11-Acre Los Angeles Public Safety Metro Site Master Plan, Air Traffic Control Tower for O’Hare International Airport, and the British Columbia Headquarters for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
With expertise delivering projects across a range of typologies and geographies, Tannar has contributed to projects from technical coordination for the expansion of JFK International Airport Terminal 4 in New York to project management of the Sheikh Khalifa Medical City project out of Abu Dhabi. He’s particularly skilled at navigating the diverse needs of project stakeholders, as evident in his more recent work realizing the award-winning new bus shelters in Los Angeles with StreetsLA. Tannar also co-leads SOM’s higher education portfolio in the region, and is currently developing two upcoming student housing projects at University of California, Santa Barbara. Tannar and Susan join Jed Zimmerman, Dan Herman, and Jose Palacios as Principals in SOM’s LA studio.
