Architecture Program Faculty

Department Chair and Associate Professor

John Haigh came to Benedictine College in 2016 to establish the Architecture Program. He is a licensed architect who resides in Atchison, KS, having worked in the profession in Milwaukee, Chicago, and South Bend. Originally from Washington state, Haigh received his M.Arch from the University of Notre Dame in 2004.

From 2003-2012 Haigh worked in South Bend, under the esteemed Arthur Ross Award-winning architect Thomas Gordon Smith, who was a leader in the contemporary developments of the resurgence of both teaching and practicing classical architecture. Under Smith, Haigh was acting manager from 2005-11 for an array of projects: the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Classical Galleries in the American Wing; Our Lady of Clear Creek Abbey, Oklahoma; Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary Chapel, Nebraska; the Alliance for Catholic Education at the University of Notre Dame; and many others.

Haigh’s personal work consists of renovations of parish churches and halls, designs for houses and home chapels—including multi-generational housing—and the drawings for sacred furnishings. With Smith he worked on a number of award-winning projects, including projects published in Classicist, a peer-reviewed journal dedicated to the classical tradition in architecture and the allied arts. Since coming to Benedictine College, Haigh’s students' projects have been published annually in Classicist.

Mary Leihy is an Assistant Professor of Architecture at Benedictine College. She is one of the first graduates of the Benedictine College Architecture Program and a recent graduate of the University of Notre Dame's Graduate School of Architecture. She has returned to Benedictine College to help cultivate the living tradition of classical architecture found in this beloved Catholic, Liberal Arts College. Her focus centers on rekindling beauty and tradition through recapturing the imagination of the architectural and historic significance of the hearth and altar in the home. The heart of her academic research centers on the reintegration of the Catholic Church’s understanding of the holistic care of the human person in dignified, accessible housing for the elderly, unhoused, or disabled. She is excited to invest what she has been given into the Benedictine College Architecture Department and the greater Atchison Community.

Ken Heyda is a 1992 Graduate of North Dakota State University, and has a Bachelor of Architecture and Bachelor of Science in Environmental Design.  He spent his first 4 ½ years out of college serving in the US Army as a Captain in the infantry, 10th Mountain Division.  After his time in the army, he returned to his field of study working for various builders/contractors in residential construction.  In 2009 he formed his own company Ken Heyda Design, LLC.  In his design-build firm Ken did everything from initial design to the final inspection.  He was a hands-on contractor doing most of the work himself from the foundation to the ridgeline.  He brings over twenty years of residential construction experience to his courses and students.  He started teaching at BC in 2022 with a focus on building technology, professional practice, and residential design.  He has been married to his wife Holly since last century, and is the father of 4 children.  He has become active in the Atchison and Benedictine community and looks forward to the growth of the program.