Shannon Gathings & Matthew Persinger named Associates
Duvall Decker Architects is proud to announce it is expanding its leadership team naming Shannon Gathings, Assoc. AIA & Matthew Persinger, AIA, LEED AP BD+C as Associates in its Jackson firm.
With eleven years of experience at Duvall Decker, Shannon is a leader in and out of the studio. She is a skilled project manager and designer and has led some of the firm’s most successful projects, including the recently completed Selah House in Malvern, Pennsylvania, and the Reserves at Gray Park, an affordable housing development helping to revive an inner-city neighborhood in Greenville, Mississippi. She received her Bachelor of Architecture from Mississippi State University and continues her commitment to student education by participating in student reviews and being a teacher in the studio, helping her peers as they grow and develop. She has an unwavering passion for architecture and its role in making communities healthier.
Shannon is a leader in the American Institute of Architects. At the state level, her roles have included Communications Director, Associate Director, member of the Board of Directors, and rank Executive Committee positions, leading to service as the 2018 AIA Mississippi President. Shannon has served as the Regional Associate Director of AIA Gulf States and is a member of the National Associate’s Committee. Shannon currently serves as the 2021 Associate Director for the AIA National Board of Directors following her previous position as 2020 Strategic Council Associate Representative.
Matt has over a decade of professional experience, serving as project architect and project manager on a wide range of building types and project scales. His diverse training spans several US regions, working in the firms of Mitchell Studio in New Haven, CT, HBRA Architects, and Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architects in Chicago, IL, and KSW Architects in Ashland OR, prior to Duvall Decker in Jackson, MS. As Project Manager at Duvall Decker, Matt is responsible for several of the firm’s significant projects, including Cooperwood Senior Living, an innovative senior living complex nearing completion in Flowood, MS, New Fire Stations for the Jackson International Airport, and the University of Mississippi Data Center, currently on the boards and in schematic design.
Matt is skilled at design, construction documentation, detailing, and guiding the whole project team toward the realization of its shared vision. He enjoys sharing his experience by co-teaching studios at the Fifth Year Program at Mississippi State University School of Architecture and serving on the NCARB ARE 5.0 Cut-Score Committee. He has been an invited critic at Cornell University and the University of Illinois Chicago and is regularly at Mississippi State for design juries. He received his Master of Architecture from Yale in 2010 and his B.S. in Architecture from the Ohio State University in 2006.
Duvall Decker Architects is an award-winning design and planning leader in the region. With the promotions of Shannon and Matt, the firm deepens its capacity to provide high-quality buildings for its clients and the community.
