Résumé

Architect, Frank O. Gehry and Associates, Santa Monica, CA, c. 1980.

Architect, Charles Kober Associates, Los Angeles, CA, c. 1980. For Kober Associates, Altoon designed the Boise City Center mall, Bellevue Square remodeling of c. 1981, and the Chicago Ridge Mall, (c. 1981).

Partner, Altoon + [James] Porter, Architects, Los Angeles, CA, 1984-2012. Porter retired in early 2012.

Partner, Altoon Partners, Los Angeles, CA, 2012- .

Professional Activities

National President, American Institute of Architects (AIA), 12/1997–12/1998; Leader, AIA, California Council, Armenian Earthquake Urban Design Task Force, Spitak, Armenia, 1989;

Professional Awards

Fellow, American Institute of Architects (FAIA).

UIA, FRAIC, Hon FRAIA, Hon JIA, Hon FCAM, Hon UAR.

High School / College

Graduate, John Marshall High School, Los Angeles, CA, 1963.

B.Arch., University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, CA, 1968.

M.Arch., University of Pennsylvania (Penn), Philadelphia, PA, 1969. He came to know the architect Louis Kahn (1901-1974) at Penn.

Relocation

A native of Southern CA, Ronald Altoon was raised in an Armenian-American household. lived with his parents and two siblings at 1958 North Berendo Street in Los Angeles's Los Feliz neighborhood in 1950. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; Roll: 1562; Page: 8; Enumeration District: 66-382, accessed 10/09/2024.)

Ronald attended the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, graduating in 1968.

Altoon has made his residence in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley since at least the 1980s.

Parents

His mother was Marian Rose Lulejian (born 11/18/1911-d. 10/03/1988 in CA) ran the household that included three children. In 1930, Marian lived with her mother Mary Lulejian (born c. 1887), an immigrant from Armenia, in an inexpensive, rented cottage at 1421 1/2 Carroll Avenue in Los Angeles. Mary worked in a tailor shop. Her father had died before her 18th birthday. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1930; Census Place: Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; Page: 16A; Enumeration District: 0721; FHL microfilm: 2339898, accessed 10/09/2024.) Marian attended Belmont High School in Los Angeles, graduating 1930 and was, according to her high school yearbook a talented pianist and bound for college at UCLA. (See Belmont High School Campanile Yearbook, 1930, p. 48.)

His father Arthur Myron Altoon (born 10/23/1903 in Fresno, CA-d. 07/15/1960 in Los Angeles, CA) also was of Armenian descent, his paternal surname originally being "Altoonian" or sometimes spelled "Altounyan" or "Altunyan." His father's parents immigrated to the US in 1884, as per the 1910 US Census and at first settled in NY State before moving to Southern CA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1910; Census Place: Los Angeles Assembly District 73, Los Angeles, California; Roll: T624_82; Page: 10b; Enumeration District: 0150; FHL microfilm: 1374095, accessed 10/09/2024.) Arthur was born in Fresno, the site of a very large and influential Armenian-American population. In 02/1942, He worked at a Thrifty Drug Store at 4351 South Central Avenue in Los Angeles. At this time, he lived at 1421 1/2 Carroll Avenue, in the same house that his wife and her mother had rented in 1930. By 1950, Arthur remained in the drug store business, managing a store. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; Roll: 1562; Page: 8; Enumeration District: 66-382, accessed 10/09/2024.)

Ronald had two older sisters: Marilyn Joyce Altoon (born 05/04/1935 in Los Angeles County, CA) and Joyce D. Altoon (born c. 1943 in CA). Marilyn attended the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), graduating in 1956. Joyce attended UCLA.

Spouse

Altoon wed Alice E. Churukian on 06/21/1968 in Los Angeles, CA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. California, U.S., Marriage Index, 1960-1985 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007, accessed 10/09/2024.)

Alice also attended John Marshall High School and the University of Southern California (USC) and became a Los Angeles Superior Court judge.

Children

Ronald and Alice Altoon had three children: Eric, Ryan, and Emily.

• Los Angeles, CA (Architect's Birth)
  Los Angeles, CA

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