I. M. Pei – 1917–

Pei immigrated to the United States in 1935 and studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He rose to fame beginning in the 1950s with his magnificent, even exuberant elaboration of the austere “International Style” in such buildings as the National Center for Atmospheric Research (Boulder, Colorado), John F. Kennedy Memorial Library (Harvard University), the East Building of the National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.), and the New York City Convention Center.