Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill

Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill (SOM) was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings. They were joined in 1939 by engineer John Merrill. Starting out with New Deal funded housing projects, SOM quickly gained esteem and graduated to projects like the 1939 World's Fair and the entire town of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where part of the Manhattan Project was located.

In the years following, SOM became known for world class architecture and took on such projects as Lever House,  The Walt Disney Company headquarters, Willis Tower, and One World Trade Center.