New York architect Richard Morris Hunt extended his influence over all of American architecture in the second half of the nineteenth century. In 1846 he was accepted into the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and continued to study there through 1854. During this period he also traveled extensively eving making a tour through Egypt and the Middle East. By 1854 Hunt was prepared to work as an architect, and he was employed by Lefuel on the Louvre Palace. In 1855 Hunt returned to the United States, and set up an office in New York City, where he would remain for the rest of his career. In the States he created an atelier system within his office, training young architects in the way that he himself had learned at the Ecole. Included among those young architects was Philadelphia Frank Furness.

Hunt was the first American to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and he was instrumental in the founding of the American Institute of Architects.

Written by Sandra L. Tatman.