Ieoh Ming Pei was born in Canton, China in 1917. In 1935, at the age of 18, he left China for the United States in order to study architecture at both the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. Following graduation Pei spent seven years, beginning in 1948, as director of the architectural division at the firm of Webb & Knapp.
In 1955 Pei created his own firm, I. M. Pei & Partners. The firm's first notable project, was the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. However, things took off when Jackie Kennedy chose Pei as the architect for the John F. Kennedy Library with that commission Pei quickly became highly regarded as an modernist architect. Following the JFK Library, I. M. Pei was requested to design the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C.
Pei is also the recipient of the Medal of Liberty, presented to him by President Ronald Reagan for outstanding service as an architect, the Grande Medaille d'Or from the French Acadamie d'Architecture, was decorated by the French Government as a Commander in the Order of Arts and Letters awarded the Praemium Imperiale by the Japan Art Association for lifetime achivement, the Medal of Freedom presented by President George Bush for his contributions to world peace and service to the United States Government, as well as the Pritzker Prize. He used the Pritzker's $100,000 prize to start a scholarship fund for Chinese architecture students to study in the United States.
Famous Buildings by I. M. Pei
Sources
http://www.ailf.org/heritage/chinese/essay02.htm
http://www.greatbuildings.com/architects/I._M._Pei.html