Lesley Wheel (1929–2004) was an American architectural lighting designer and one of the pioneers of architectural lighting design.[1] Wheel graduated from Bryn Mawr College[2] and was trained in theater lighting and production, working under Jean Rosenthal at the New York City Ballet before moving into architectural lighting design and co-founding the firm Wheel-Garon Inc. She was one of the first women to practice architectural lighting design full-time.[3] Her work focused primarily on hotel and hospitality design, and she was known for her skill in creating warmth and intimacy through light.
Wheel was a founding member and past president of the International Association of Lighting Designers and the first person to receive its Lifetime Achievement Award. She was a founding member and past director of the Nuckolls Fund for Lighting Education and a former director of the Lighting Research Institute. After her death, the Nuckolls Fund established an annual grant in her name for an introductory lighting program at a college or a university.[4]