5/15/2018—The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has elevated 31 members as Fellows for their exceptional contributions to the landscape architecture profession and society at large. Election to the ASLA Council of Fellows is among the highest honors the ASLA bestows on members and is based on their works, leadership and management, knowledge and service.

ASLA will formally recognize its 2018 Fellows at the ASLA 2018 Annual Meeting and EXPO, October 19–22, in Philadelphia. Additional information about the 2018 Class of Fellows, as well as previous ASLA Fellows, is available on the ASLA Council of Fellows webpage

2018 ASLA Fellows 

Timothy Baird, ASLA
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York

Timothy Baird, of Cornell University, received his nomination, in Knowledge, from the Council of Fellows Executive Committee. Drawing on the lessons gleaned from an extraordinarily distinguished multi-faceted career, including practice at internationally recognized firms and teaching at Cornell, Penn State and Texas Tech, Baird has imparted both theoretical and practical wisdom to the next generation of landscape architects, serving both as a mentor and exemplar. Because of his extraordinary work as a thought leader, innovator, researcher and accomplished practitioner, he has provided his students with both a model to follow and the knowledge and wisdom to become highly regarded professionals in their own right. His studios are among his many academic innovations and now include interdisciplinary collaboration between architecture and landscape architecture students, an acknowledgment of the realities of the professional world they will come to inherit. Baird’s service for eight years as a devoted member of the Flight 93 National Memorial Task Force, and as manager of the international memorial design competition, reveals a selfless dedication to the highest ideals of the profession and sets an extraordinary example for his students and the entire landscape architecture community.

Caron N. Beard, ASLA
Beard Landscape Development (Retired)
Friendsville, Tennessee

Caron Beard received his nomination, in Service, from the Tennessee Chapter. As a lifelong practitioner, mentor and ASLA leader, Beard has made extraordinary contributions to ASLA chapters across the nation as well as to the national society. From Idaho and the Pacific Northwest to Arizona and Tennessee, he has successfully brought a vital message to decision-makers about the value and role of landscape architects in the shaping of the public realm and in protecting the public’s health, safety and welfare. Beard has been an active participant in ASLA’s work as a volunteer and elected leader. He led the formation of the Arizona Chapter in 1973, and soon after that turned back a threat to the state’s landscape architecture licensing law. At the Tennessee ASLA Chapter, he represented the profession at every level, from high school career days to the adoption of a countywide master plan and a state-road landscape design initiative, the latter being one of many efforts he made to ensure the involvement of landscape architects in the design of transportation corridors and other public spaces. Beard was also pivotal in the accreditation of the University of Tennessee landscape architecture program. Through his example, he has demonstrated that through active advocacy in the service of ideals and principles, one person can make a profound difference for the profession and the communities it serves.

Jereck Boss, ASLA
OJB Landscape Architecture
Houston, Texas

Jereck Boss, of OJB Landscape Architecture, received his nomination, in Works, from the Texas Chapter. Boss has brought his considerable skills to bear on a broad range of institutional, corporate campus, mixed-use and large-scale urban design projects, including walkable and innovative streetscapes. He has a deep respect for natural topography and considers the backdrop of each landscape as a vital part of the whole composition. To each project, he brings a philosophy that good design should not be neutralized by limitations. Instead, apparent constraints should catalyze and inspire better design because they push designers to come up with creative solutions that would otherwise not be considered. Both Boss’s clients and fellow professionals from all disciplines have great admiration, first and foremost, for his integrity, but also for the depth of his technical ability, commitment to collaboration, sensitivity to environmental needs and respect for the communities served by his award-winning designs.

Andrew C.N. Bowden, ASLA
Land Concern
Santa Ana, California

Andrew Bowden, of Land Concern, received his nomination, in Service, from the Southern California Chapter. Bowden has served as an energetic and forceful advocate for ASLA and the profession, playing a prominent role in California and nationwide in defense of licensure; advocacy for the central role of landscape architects in promoting the health, safety and welfare of the public; and supporting innovative paths to joining the profession. His grasp of issues and clear expression of ideas have driven constructive solutions even during challenging legislative and regulatory battles. He leads by example and is a mentor to students and emerging professionals alike. While Bowden was a member of the California Landscape Architectural Scholarship Fund, the endowment rose from $150,000 in the 1990s to exceed $1 million, allowing the scholarships to be given in perpetuity. His selfless leadership included service as co-chair of the 2017 ASLA Annual Meeting in Los Angeles and a lifetime of community service devoted to environmental and social concerns.

Mary Anne Cassin, ASLA
Portland Parks and Recreation (Retired)
Portland, Oregon

Mary Anne Cassin received her nomination, in Leadership/Management, from the Oregon Chapter. During 35 extraordinarily productive years within the Portland, Oregon, park system, Cassin’s leadership and management abilities, professional proficiency, strategic thinking and exceptional political acumen have enabled her to be a vital force behind the region’s national reputation for urban design excellence. She has long been devoted to promoting the essential role of open space in cities and was instrumental in securing the 2011 National Recreation and Parks Association Gold Medal for Portland. Using her vast knowledge, political acumen and persuasive skills, she has helped push for creative financing strategies for park expansion and improvements. Among her accomplishments is a policy requiring developers to pay a fee for additional parks and recreation facilities, which she deftly steered through city council then helped institutionalize. Enormously respected and admired by citizens and professionals alike, Cassin has helped inspire the entire community to share her passion for parks and natural spaces within our urban world.

James Corner, ASLA
James Corner Field Operations
New York, New York

James Corner, of James Corner Field Operations, received his nomination, in Works, from the New York Chapter. Enormously influential as a designer, educator, thought leader, and public figure, Corner has advanced the field of landscape architecture and urbanism in America and around the world. His leadership on high-visibility, complex urban projects, highly regarded lectures and writings and distinguished academic career has placed him at the forefront of contemporary landscape practice. His work is renowned for innovative and bold design across a variety of project types and scales, with a special commitment to the design of vibrant and dynamic urban realms that are informed and inspired by the ecologies of place, people and nature. At the University of Pennsylvania School of Design Landscape Department, Corner pioneered the establishment of landscape urbanism theory, which has positioned landscape architecture as critical to city development. This expanded understanding of what landscape architecture encompasses paved the way for landscape architects to lead major, multidisciplinary projects that would have previously been driven only by architects or engineers.

Christopher Dacus, ASLA
City and County of Honolulu (Retired)
Honolulu, Hawaii

Christopher Dacus, received his nomination, in Service, from the Hawaii Chapter. Now retired, Dacus worked for the Hawaii Department of Transportation and Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation for 18 years, contributing immeasurably to the improvement of the state’s open spaces and the preservation of its natural beauty. Devoted to his community and his profession, he has worked pro bono on 17 boards to champion environmental causes, including the effort to decrease the use of invasive plant species and promote the use of the state’s native plants in landscape designs. To share his enthusiasm for Hawaii’s natural world with the public, Dacus developed a wildly popular Hawai’i Native Plant Poster that features the 25 most popular native plants for landscape use. He took a leadership role in fighting invasive species and helped develop best-management practices to reduce irrigation water use. Over a 10-year period, he wrote articles for Hawaii’s landscape industry professional magazine and established a seed bank for the long-term propagation of native plants. Throughout his career, he has been a strong advocate for his profession and served in leadership roles in the Hawaii chapter of ASLA and is now applying his prodigious ethic of public service to improving the lives of people living with Parkinson’s disease.

Deborah Allison Deets, ASLA
City of Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California

Deborah Deets, of the City of Los Angeles, received her nomination, in Leadership/Management, from the Southern California Chapter. As a leader of the Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation’s Watershed Protection Program, Deets has demonstrated the value of her skills as a landscape architect in an engineering-dominated professional culture. A leader in defining new standards and landscape-based strategies for green infrastructure projects, she has been a key team leader for the most significant stormwater projects in the region. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti lauded her exceptional leadership and management skills that have benefitted the city for more than 20 years, commending Deets for serving her community with grace and ability. Her implementation of passive biofiltration and irrigation systems within a phased planning approach convinced her fellow flood-control professionals that a resilient strategy for building connectivity among open spaces and streets is both technically feasible and well understood by landscape architects. Her award-winning work and community leadership have raised the profile both of the landscape architecture profession and the sustainable principles to which she has devoted her career.

Sandra K. Fischer, ASLA
Fischer Bouma Partnership
Bainbridge Island, Washington

Sandra Fischer, of Fischer Bouma Partnership, received her nomination, in Leadership/Management, from the Washington Chapter. With a ground-breaking and influential practice that has spanned the Pacific Northwest, Great Plains and Northern Rockies (including being the first woman licensed in the state of Montana), Fischer has worked tirelessly to create more attractive, livable, walkable and economically sustainable communities. She has led award-winning global consultancies and regional multidisciplinary firms, and through her active participation in civic and professional organizations, has raised the profile of landscape architecture in places where the profession is less established. A hallmark of Fischer’s success, and a source of her influence, has been her ability to develop the talents of those around her. Through mentorship and the example of her integrity, she nurtures employees, students and emerging professionals, with a particular interest in bringing women into the kind of leadership positions she has pioneered.

David Gorden, ASLA
Mark M. Holeman Inc.
Indianapolis, Indiana

David Gorden, of Mark M. Holeman, Inc., received his nomination, in Service, from the Indiana Chapter. Typically engaged in several volunteer commitments at once, Gorden has left an enduring, broad legacy through his leadership and service. In every program, outreach event and elected or appointed position he has undertaken, Gorden has elevated the stature and awareness of landscape architecture regionally and nationally. Within the profession, he engages fellow members in events and issues that increase their knowledge and community standing, and outside groups eagerly seek his leadership, expertise and enthusiasm. His commitment to public and professional service improves environments for people, provides additional tools for practicing landscape architects and promotes the profession beyond its chapters and practitioners in areas such as invasive species. He remains active with the Indiana Invasive Plant Advisory Committee as its sole landscape architect, only one of his many volunteer roles, all of which are devoted to raising public awareness of the inestimable value of gardens, cultural landscapes and the incorporation of beauty in community life.

Earl H. Graffam, ASLA
OLIN
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Earl “Skip” Graffam, of OLIN, received his nomination, in Works, from the Pennsylvania-Delaware Chapter. Graffam’s global award-winning work balances the unique needs of each site, the people who will use it and the environment as a whole. As OLIN’s director of research, he fostered the integration of input from communities, governments, designers, engineers, scientists and other collaborators to create enduring public spaces that ignite social engagement and enliven living and cultural systems. He is the complete landscape architect, a remarkable professional with an unusual depth of knowledge in both architecture and landscape architecture. There isn’t an aspect of practice that Graffam hasn’t mastered from conceptual design through construction, giving him a reservoir of wisdom he shares through collaborative design and research studios and as a university lecturer. His ability to work simultaneously at multiple scales of design has contributed to the successful implementation of multifunctional landscapes—beautiful, finely crafted spaces which also act as catalysts for improving the ecologic, economic and social health of communities and their citizens.

Mary Taylor Haque, ASLA
Clemson University
Clemson, South Carolina

Mary Taylor Haque, of Clemson University, received her nomination, in Knowledge, from the South Carolina Chapter. A gifted speaker and prolific author throughout her career, Haque has pursued every endeavor with enthusiasm and excellence. Thousands of students have come out of her classes steeped in the methodology and discipline of landscape architecture and endowed with the ability to synthesize, think creatively and systemically and work together with their peers and clients. As scholar, mentor and educator, Haque has promoted the importance of landscape architecture through a vast body of knowledge and array of projects. Haque and her collaborators have designed more than 250 projects across South Carolina. Her planning and design contributions include residences, businesses, institutions, recreational facilities, urban restorations and municipal projects. For over three decades, Haque has been a passionate advocate for the use of sustainable landscape architecture, active living and low-impact development principles. Her three dozen awards are a testament to her devotion to the profession, the education of budding professionals and her work to bring the wonders of landscape architecture to children of all ages.

Walter Havener, ASLA
Surface 678
Durham, North Carolina

Walter Havener, of Surface 678, received his nomination, in Works, from the North Carolina Chapter. Havener is one of the most influential landscape architects in the Southeast, sought out by top-tier architects who want the very best environmental design. Because he believed landscape architects were not sufficiently appreciated and that the region would greatly benefit from better design he devoted himself to engaging architects, engineers, graphic designers and artists to collaborate on projects that reflect landscape as an integral and critical part of their built context. Significant among his work is the transformation of a prison yard into gorgeously designed gardens at the North Carolina Museum of Art West Gallery and Sculpture Park. His body of transformative landscape design work comprises a diverse collection of ecologically responsive and stunningly crafted projects. Havener’s hallmark is contextually sensitive, conceptually based and exquisitely restrained design. He is a pioneer in the practice of integrated and beautifully designed stormwater management across the region and is credited with significantly raising the profile of the profession throughout North Carolina.

David Lennox Hocker, ASLA
Hocker Design Group
Dallas, Texas

David Lennox Hocker, of Hocker Design Group, received his nomination, in Works, from the Texas Chapter. Hocker’s work is known for the unique use of recycled and regionally sensitive materials, which he employs in unexpected and precisely executed ways. He has a keen sense of scaled relationships and construction detailing, and drawing on his Texas roots, he has mastered a unique design vocabulary rooted in regional landscapes and native plants. His unique and awarded projects are contextual, deeply considered, thoroughly researched and masterfully detailed. The results are crafted, visually exciting sustainable environments enriching the lives of the owners, the community and our profession. Hocker is renowned as a careful listener and a true collaborator who places the pragmatic needs of the client and the project at the forefront of his sophisticated and fresh design approach. His clients enjoy his honesty, hard work, knowledge and creativity, attributes which have garnered his firm over 30 design awards.

Ying-yu Hung, ASLA
SWA
Los Angeles, California

Ying-yu Hung, of SWA, received her nomination, in Works, from the Southern California Chapter. In her two decades of practice, Hung has employed her visionary design skills to transform derelict parcels into beautiful, active public spaces. Pushing through design constraints with tenacity and creativity, she realizes her concepts through innovative material applications that meet challenging budgets and site conditions. The places she brings to life empower communities and ignite their imagination of what is possible when people work together to improve their neighborhoods. Hung’s design process includes a search for a community’s desires by listening and gathering information through conversations, research, site observations and public outreach. She is active in academia as an instructor and mentor to the next generation of landscape architects and is also a highly regarded author on contemporary issues. She challenges students to tackle social and environmental problems, such as gentrification and climate change, leading through the example of her work which spans the globe from California, Texas and Pennsylvania to her Gubei Pedestrian Promenade in Shanghai.

Kathleen John-Alder, ASLA
Rutgers University
New Brunswick, New Jersey

Kathleen John-Adler, of Rutgers University, received her nomination, in Knowledge, from the New Jersey Chapter. John-Adler inspires colleagues and students to think deeply and critically about their actions toward the land. A talented artist and award-winning practitioner with a remarkable grasp of the history of the profession and its methods over the past century, she is a born teacher with genuine insight into the nature of design and has a remarkable ability to explain it visually and in writing. Her examination of the work of Lawrence Halprin and Ian McHarg has increased our understanding of ecology in environmental discourse and expanded our appreciation of modernist design and its contribution to our profession. John-Alder’s early career included an associate partnership with OLIN before moving into academia where her research dealt with the transformative role of environmentalism in the mid-20th-century landscape and the impact of climate change, including in the Arctic. She has earned her place in an elite circle of hybrid practitioner-scholars working at the frontiers of landscape architecture to discover its larger potential.

Douglas Jones, ASLA
LeBlanc Jones Landscape Architects
Boston, Massachusetts

Douglas Jones, of LeBlanc Jones Landscape Architects, received his nomination, in Works, from the Boston Society. The landscapes envisioned by Jones are beautifully resilient, fresh and vibrant. His mastery of sculptural gradation, fine detail and carefully balanced proportion is evident in his mature designs, known for their subtlety and refinement. Growing up in Idaho, Jones was inspired by its varied landscapes and topology, which have helped infuse his work with the sculptural and dramatic qualities of natural landforms. Beautiful, functional and ecologically sensitive designs flow from his thoughtful integration of the design and site with their broader context. His awarded work spans across New England and New York and extends to the U.S. Armed Forces Garden in Caen, France. Through pro bono work he continues to demonstrate that landscape architecture is a necessary yet often overlooked component of a built environment that shapes better communities.

Brian Katen, ASLA
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, Virginia

Brian Katen, of Virginia Tech, received his nomination, in Knowledge, from the Virginia Chapter. Through his practice, research and teaching Katen has demonstrated a deep commitment to place-based inquiry and has shown a passionate commitment to honoring local and regional cultural identity. His research and teaching challenge easy, first-readings of the landscape and reveal the complex, hidden cultural dimensions of our everyday public spaces. Katen’s groundbreaking research on the diverse and often invisible layers of Virginia’s cultural landscapes and the sites of memory of marginalized groups have been at the forefront of innovative recent place-based scholarship and has challenged the completeness of our traditional histories. Katen exemplifies what an academic leader should be, undertaking research on Virginia’s invisible cultural landscapes and confirming that early-20th-century African American public spaces were significant realms for both social encounters and the formation of identity.

Robin Key, ASLA
RKLA Studio Landscape Architecture
New York, New York

Robin Key, of RKLA Studio Landscape Architecture, received her nomination, in Service, from the New York Chapter. During Key’s professional career, she has reimagined iconic sites such as the St. Patrick’s Cathedral grounds and Central Park’s Tavern on the Green. Beyond her award-winning projects, though, she consistently and generously shares her professional expertise to heighten the experiences of others. Her pro bono contributions include landscape architecture considerations for the Olana State Historic Site, the Cultural Landscape Foundation and designNYC. As the Olana Partnership’s first landscape-architect board member, she advocated for a cohesive plan for the 250-acre Hudson Valley mansion grounds. Working pro bono with designNY in 2008, she developed an integrated landscape design for Serviam Gardens, which provides low-income housing to seniors in the Bronx. She proves to all who enter her orbit that good places come from grit, determination, generosity of spirit and design excellence.

Kas Kinkead, ASLA
Cascade Design Collaborative
Seattle, Washington

Kas Kinkead, of Cascade Design Collaborative, received her nomination, in Service, from the Washington Chapter. Kinkead is a recognized leader in Seattle and at the state and national levels, elevating her profession in the eyes of decision makers when she advocates for sustainable building, green infrastructure and superlative public K-12 educational facilities. She is a member and twice chair of Washington State’s Technical Advisory Committee on publicly funded K-12 schools. With her guidance, the state passed both a funding-eligibility law for outdoor classrooms and a sustainable design protocol for new schools that includes stormwater and low-impact development strategies. Kinkead’s talent for persuasion grows from her remarkable ability to personalize projects and her encyclopedic understanding of K-12 educational goals, community values and age-appropriate connections to landscape. She is a long-time advocate for women in the design professions and has been a potent champion of practice licensure for landscape architects, making her an inspiration to her colleagues and a role model of effective leadership.

Edward Marshall, ASLA
Stephen Stimson Associates
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Edward Marshall, of Stephen Stimson Associates, received his nomination, in Works, from the Boston Society. Marshall choreographs the elements of his composition—grading, sight lines, planting and context—through a disciplined economy of materials and frugal simplicity of forms. He believes an uncluttered landscape allows users to take ownership of a site. From residential gardens to municipal parks and campuses, he employs continuity, scale and sense of place to shape the design concept. Marshall’s craftsmanship and attention to detail reflect his belief that elegant and imaginative design should infuse all levels of a project. Within his firm he is committed to a collaborative design process and a culture of mentorship, serving as an inspiration for young designers. His landscapes are vibrant and expressive, uniting sustainability with craft to create environments that heighten awareness with four seasons of beauty.

Chris Moyles, ASLA
Reed Hilderbrand LLC
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Chris Moyles, of Reed Hilderbrand, received his nomination, in Works, from the Boston Society. Moyles adhered to his firm’s commitment to building beautifully and sustainably and was one of the profession’s leading voices for high-performance landscapes that integrate artistic practice with science and technology. His work is straightforward in its elegant spareness and essential appropriateness to site and program. Moyles believed that a site’s beauty becomes most powerful when design reveals the natural systems and processes underlying a landscape’s ecosystem. A passionate designer and draftsman, he lectured extensively on sustainable design practices and ways to ensure that landscape performance endures for lifetimes. He was a valued collaborator among related professionals, clients and communities while encouraging those with whom he worked to find balance and mutual respect among a site’s history, architectural features and contemporary requirements.

Thomas L. Mroz Jr., ASLA
SmithGroupJJR Inc.
Ann Arbor, Michigan

Thomas L. Mroz Jr., of Smith Group JJR, received his nomination, in Leadership/Management, from the Michigan Chapter. Mroz has built his extraordinary career on a foundation of insightful management and dedicated leadership. He has applied these skills to advancements in various areas of the landscape architecture profession—yielding transformative impacts for his clients, his firm and a future generation of professionals. He has applied his considerable business acumen both to his firm and to ASLA, serving as an active leader and advocate at the state and national levels. Among Mroz’s many contributions is his participation in the Landscape Architecture Firm CEO Roundtable and service on the national Board of Trustees. He is renowned for his passionate support of mentorship and professional development among his staff, which includes the establishment within his firm of a scholarship program for landscape architecture students from underrepresented populations, demonstrating his role as a transformative force for the future of the profession.

Michael Edwin Nichols, ASLA
Nichols Design Group, Inc.
Solana Beach, California

Michael Nichols, of Nichols Design Group, received his nomination, in Leadership/Management, from the San Diego Chapter. From his time as an undergraduate to his earliest days as a Southern California landscape architect, Nichols has been driven to share his talents and passion with his community. He successfully ran for the Solana Beach City Council in San Diego County, beginning his tenure in 2006, and has served three times as mayor. His leadership has transformed his city into one of the most environmentally progressive communities in California and has raised awareness among government officials at all levels of the importance of landscape architecture in intelligent urban planning. Both as a practitioner and as an elected official, he has guided his oceanside city to become an environmental frontrunner on climate-change issues, walkability and green development. Through the example of his professional work and his commitment to public service he has raised the profile of the profession and demonstrated the power of landscape architecture to transform communities.

Scott Parker, ASLA
DesignWorks, LC
Charleston, South Carolina

Scott Parker, of DesignWorks, received his nomination, in Works, from the South Carolina Chapter. Parker’s commitment to enriching the lives of others is contagious. Inspired by his passion for place-making, clients, public officials, the public and other design professionals are drawn to him, enthusiastic to join in his effort to bring creativity, beauty and excellence to their communities. His work ranges from immense master plans to the smallest gardens, each completed with the highest sensitivity to all living organisms. From his resort work in Kiawah Island, South Carolina, and Doonbeg, Ireland, to the redevelopment of closed government installations in South Carolina, Alabama and Washington, D.C., his plans have become models for the future. His outreach and advocacy are extensive, such as with the Charleston Parks Conservancy and throughout the Low Country. Both through his professional body of work and the example he sets by his devotion to his community, Parker’s influence will be long felt by the public and the profession alike.

David A. Rubin, ASLA
Land Collective
Philadelphia, Pennsylania

David A. Rubin, of DAVID RUBIN Land Collective, was nominated, in Works, by the Pennsylvania-Delaware Chapter of ASLA. Rubin founded his studio following his tenure as a Fellow of The American Academy in Rome in 2011-2012. DAVID RUBIN Land Collective is a landscape architecture and urban design studio committed to practicing with an emphasis on empathy-driven design strategies. They are recognized for their designs’ positive social impact upon cities, as well as an inclusive and enthusiastic approach to engagement. Rubin is responsible for the design of Canal Park in Washington, D.C.; Lenfest Plaza at The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the University of Pennsylvania’s new Pennovation Campus, both in Philadelphia; as well as The Commonground at Eskenazi Health Hospital, the Indianapolis Museum of Art Master Plan, and the new Cummins DBU Headquarters, all in Indianapolis.  Rubin is currently a Visiting Professor at The Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, and has also taught and lectured at a number of educational institutions.

Adrian L. Smith, ASLA
City of New York Parks and Recreation
New York, New York

Adrian Smith, of the City of New York Parks and Recreation, received his nomination, in Service, from the New York Chapter. To engender increased recognition of the indispensable role landscape architects play in society, Smith engages everyone from school children to lawmakers with his many volunteer projects. He inspires high school students to enter the profession, with a focus on inner-city recruitment, and advocates for regulation that includes landscape architects as equals with architects and engineers. In an era when landscape architects’ services are increasingly vital to creating healthy, vibrant and resilient urban communities, his efforts have opened a seat at the table for his colleagues at the outset of every project. Throughout his service to the public and profession, he has translated into action his love for nature, the environment and design. His passionate calls for advocacy at the chapter and national level have resulted in concrete gains in how the public views landscape architects and their role in community life.

Ted H. Spaid, ASLA
SWT Design Inc.
St. Louis, Missouri

Ted Spaid, of SWT Design, received his nomination, in Leadership/Management, from the St. Louis Chapter. Spaid has cultivated one of the largest standalone landscape architecture firms in the Midwest, firmly grounded in advocacy for sustainability and evidence-based design. In the complicated alignment of scale, complexity and public engagement, his pursuit of excellence is relentless. Spaid is a national leader in environmental design and was instrumental in the development of the Sustainable SITES Initiative™ (SITES®), leading two SITES-certified pilot projects, including the campus of SWT Design, which the firm uses as a living laboratory. Throughout his career, he has been focused on the development of the greater St. Louis community, including service as the only landscape architect on the City Planning Commission and by leading an effort to provide urban residents with access to fresh produce and open space. He is a dedicated leader in issues related to landscape architecture education, reflecting his commitment to ensuring that the profession continues to serve as designer and protector of the public realm.

George E. Stanziale, ASLA
Stewart
Raleigh/Durham/Charlotte, North Carolina

George Stanziale, of Stewart, received his nomination, in Leadership/Management, from the North Carolina Chapter. Throughout his career, Stanziale has applied the landscape-architecture design approach to every aspect of leadership and management, a mindset he has vigorously employed in the transformation of a traditional engineering firm into its current form as a highly integrated force of 200 multidisciplinary professionals. Stanziale has pioneered and refined a multidisciplinary, consensus-based approach to design that has fundamentally transformed the landscape architecture profession in North Carolina. His volunteer leadership includes the establishment of ULI Carolinas, which now supports more than 700 members and the transformation of North Carolina State University’s landscape architecture curriculum into one that balances insightful design with pragmatic professionalism. By bringing together diverse minds and professions and actively engaging with the people of his state, Stanziale has unleashed the power of landscape architecture and placed it at the center of the transformation of his community.

Thaïsa Way, ASLA
University of Washington
Seattle, Washington

Thaïsa Way, of the University of Washington, received her nomination, in Knowledge, from the Washington Chapter. Waysignificantly impacts the profession through her teaching, research, scholarship and leadership. As a consummate learner, critic, valued educator and inspired advocate, she actively engages the role of design in the social values and environmental ethics related to the concepts of landscape and urbanism. A highly regarded professor, Way educates students to critically examine how the histories of urban landscapes, particularly public spaces, inform contemporary design and policy making. Weaving an understanding of history, culture and place, she guides these future practitioners through their exploration of what it means to develop healthy and equitable cities in the U.S. and around the globe. Her extensive writings and lectures have an international reputation for extraordinary scholarship and profound insights into the role of landscape architecture in the broader world and the fundamental intersection of urban landscape, design and history. As one of the great thinkers within our discipline, Way is not merely a chronicler of the profession, but an active agent in its transformation.

Jim Wescoat, ASLA
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Jim Wescoat, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, received his nomination, in Knowledge, from the Council of Fellows Executive Committee. Wescoat is a geographer, hydrologist, historian, educator and landscape architect who bridges the worlds of scholarship and practice. Colleagues call him an interdisciplinary team all to himself. Wescoat’s contribution to the profession not only includes significant contributions to our body of knowledge but also leadership in addressing pressing environmental problems around the world, particularly those related to water. He is at the top of two fields: the history and conservation of Islamic gardens and large-scale water management and policy. Water has been the unifying theme in his work, especially the study of water-conserving design across widely varying scales, regions and cultures throughout the world. He contends that water is to a landscape as energy is to buildings and only by carefully scrutinizing how water is distributed throughout society can we understand whether our environmental plans are sustainable. Wescoat has had and will have, a profound effect on the profession, compelling landscape architects everywhere to think more deeply about structures in geographic and environmental terms and to incorporate insights into how societies draw on local water supplies into their designs. 

About the American Society of Landscape Architects
Founded in 1899, the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is the professional association for landscape architects in the United States, representing more than 15,000 members. The Society’s mission is to advance landscape architecture through advocacy, communication, education and fellowship. Sustainability has been part of ASLA’s mission since its founding and is an overarching value that informs all of the Society’s programs and operations. ASLA has been a leader in demonstrating the benefits of green infrastructure and resilient development practices through the creation of its own green roof, co-development of the SITES® Rating System, and the creation of publicly accessible sustainable design resources.