Stephan A. Pappas has lived a life of service. His dedication to the community and to individuals alike has enabled him to excel in many areas of his life. He currently serves as Wyoming’s Senator for District 7 and is a board member and treasurer of the World Hellenic Inter-Parliamentary Association. Stephan retired from the U.S. Air Force as an Assistant Adjutant General with the Wyoming Air National Guard in 2009. In addition to all of that, Stephan is an accomplished architect and past president and owner of Pappas & Pappas Architects P.C. His eagerness to learn and ability to make friends wherever he goes have earned him accolades, and one could say that he truly is a Renaissance man. We recently had the chance to talk with Stephan and learn more about his life and his many careers. We are honored to feature him as a legend of our industry in this issue of Wyoming Architecture. The Early Years Stephan was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in 1950. He and his four siblings were taught the value of hard work, an appreciation for the great state of Wyoming and a love for their family’s Greek heritage by their father, Andrew, also an architect, and their mother, Theoni. Following in his father’s footsteps wasn’t always part of Stephan’s plan. After graduating from high school in 1969, Stephan attended college, pursuing a physics major. However, after his first year of school, he began to question that career path. Stephan recalled, “When I got to thinking, if I got a physics degree, I wouldn’t be able to live in Wyoming unless I taught in a school. There aren’t any physics jobs in Wyoming.” So, Stephan assessed his options and realized that he really liked his father’s career. As a child, his father would take Stephan to jobs and to visit with clients. His father had also been on the State Board of Architects for many years and worked throughout the state of Wyoming. Stephan decided that a career in architecture held promise. “It’s certainly a design-oriented profession, and my mindset is on the creative side, so I enjoyed that. Also, the profession deals with people, and I’m a people person,” said Stephan. After continuing at the University of Wyoming for another year to take engineering courses, Stephan transferred to the University of New Mexico. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in architecture. He then attended the University of Arizona, a very design-oriented school, influenced heavily by Frank Lloyd Wright. “I was the president of the student body, and was also on the first council, which is the Student Senate for the entire university and is probably the roots of my political ambitions,” Stephan said. He went on to graduate as an “Outstanding Graduate,” an honor that few earn and was presented with a diploma made of copper, a tribute to the school’s strong ties to the mining industry. A Leap of Faith Upon graduation, Stephan returned home to Wyoming and started working at his father’s firm: Kemper and Pappas. He worked on one of the largest state office buildings, the Herchler Building, and once that project went into construction, Stephan and his dad decided that they would like to start their own firm. Two years later, in 1982, this dream came to fruition, and Pappas and Pappas Architects P.C. was established. “My father was my partner, and I spent about half of my career working with him,” Stephan said. “When we started off, it was slim pickings when it came to getting work, as we were a brand-new firm. We took the work we could get, even though they were really small projects in the beginning,” Stephan recalled. “The first project we did was a toilet remodel in the House Chamber at the Capitol. I think the whole fee was $1,500. That was a humbling experience after just coming off the Hershler Building project.” Knowing that everybody has to start somewhere and not being willing to give up, Stephan and his father pressed forward, slowly but surely growing the practice. Their firm was always small; at the most, there were seven employees and eventually larger projects started coming in. “We did a lot of WYDOT work for the highway department, did work for schools, hospitals and commercial buildings, but most of my architectural career tended to be on government projects,” Stephan said. “My father retired when he was 67. I continued to work on my own until I was 70 years old. At that point, I asked myself, ‘Why am I still workin’?’ While I still enjoyed architecture, I was getting increasingly tired of running a business. In addition, I was busy in the legislature and decided to retire from architecture to focus on public service. That was in 2020.” Dual Careers “I’ve always worked two jobs,” Stephan said. “Early in my architectural career, I designed a facility for the Air National Guard Base, they recruited me.” He joined the Guard late in life, just one month before his 35th birthday. Even so, he retired as a Brigadier General. “During my service, I was what they call an Assistant Adjutant General for the Air National Guard. I ran the Wyoming Air Guard. I advanced rapidly in my career, having been selected for the rank of General in just 17 years,” Stephan recalled. “I attribute my rapid gain in rank to joining at a later age and having the experience and wisdom to manage my career better.” Integrity first, service before self and excellence in everything you do are just a few of the lessons that Stephan learned during his service. He explained, “I’ve taken Stephan A. Pappas, A Renaissance Man 36 WYOMING ARCHITECTURE .25
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTg3NDExNQ==