Biographical Note

Raymond Mathewson Hood (1881-1934) was born in Rhode Island and attended Brown University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, where he studied architecture and design. Hood returned to the United States and established an independent architectural practice in New York in 1914. He entered architectural competitions and took an industrial design job designing radiator covers for the American Radiator Company.

In 1922 Hood, in partnership with the architect John Mead Howells, won the design competition for the new Chicago Tribune Building. This prestigious assignment led to more commissions for large office buildings, such as the American Radiator Company Building, the Daily News Building, and the McGraw-Hill Building, all in New York City. In addition to large office towers, Hood designed apartment buildings, single-family residences, memorials, churches, tombs, and college dormitories. He worked under his own name and also in partnership with Howells, as well as with engineer J. Andre Fouilhoux, and architect Frederick Godley.

Hood also contributed designs for Rockefeller Center, but died before the project came to completion. Hood often used the Art Deco style and collaborated with artists to create murals and sculptures that set his designs apart from other architects. Hood served as president of the Architectural League of New York from 1929 to 1931 and received its Medal of Honor in 1926.