April Pottorff, Raytown High School, Class of 1986
April Pottorff graduated from Raytown High School in 1986, and spending summers on scholarship at the Kansas City Art Institute, she received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Kansas and a Masters of Urban Planning in Urban Design degree from City College of New York. April is one of a small number of women architects specializing in designing and building courthouses, youth detention centers and jails.
At the University of Kansas she was an Outstanding College Student of America and was awarded a Fifth Year Studio Urban Design Award. From 1989 to 1993 April had internships with architectural firms, parks and recreation departments, university and civil engineers and surveyors.
In 1993 she joined Ricci Greene Associates in New York City. When her husband took a position with the University of Kentucky, Ricci Greene established a new office in Lexington which April now directs.
Pottorff has affiliations with the American Institute of Architects, the Academy of Architecture for Justice, and the American Jail Assoc.iation. She was featured at an exhibition, “Toward the New Millenium – Women in Architecture”, held in New York City.
She has chaired and lectured at numerous conferences in her field, published many articles, and taught and mentored in her specialty. She has designed twelve courthouses, seven juvenile facilities and six jails.
April lives in Lexington, Kentucky with her husband, Greg Luhan, who is an Associate Dean for Research at the University of Kentucky, and with their daughter, Miller. April enjoys biking, and often rides as much as 100 miles per week.
