ASLA Honors 33 Outstanding Members with Fellowship

WASHINGTON, Jun 12, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The American Society of Landscape Architects has elevated 33 members to the ASLA Council of Fellows for 2012. Fellowship is among the highest honors the ASLA bestows on members and recognizes the contributions of these individuals to their profession and society at large based on their works, leadership and management, knowledge, and service. The Fellows-elect will be recognized at the 2012 ASLA Annual Meeting & Expo, September 28--October 1 in Phoenix.

 

The designation of Fellow is conferred on individuals in recognition of exceptional accomplishments over a sustained period of time. Individuals considered for this distinction must be members of ASLA in good standing for at least ten years and must be recommended to the Council of Fellows by the Executive Committee of their local chapter, the Executive Committee of ASLA, or the Executive Committee of the Council of Fellows.

 

Gerdo P. Aquino, ASLA SWA Los Angeles

 

Gerdo Aquino was nominated by the Southern California Chapter in the Works Category. In addition to his many design accomplishments--he has revitalized wetlands and vacant and unusable urban spaces throughout the world--he is an accomplished lecturer, professor, and author. He established the SWA Los Angeles office in 2005 and has since expanded the practice into Asia. His involvement in the firm's projects begins at their inception and continues through final completion. His long list of national and regional awards is a testament to his close stewardship. He also strives to elevate the social well-being and health of communities through landscapes that conserve and filter water to maintain ecological balance. He holds a BLA from the University of Florida and MLA from the Harvard GSD.

 

Julia M. Badenhope, ASLA Iowa State University Ames, Iowa

 

Julia Badenhope was nominated by the Iowa Chapter in the Knowledge Category. She is an associate professor and director of Iowa's Living Roadways Community Visioning Program at Iowa State. She integrates teaching, research, and outreach in the statewide community design assistance program she directs, and her efforts have been recognized by both the American Planning Association and Federal Highways Administration with their highest national awards. Notably, she has been able to bring both funds and design talent to the state's smaller, often-underserved communities. She integrates poly-disciplinary collaboration and inspires grassroots design even as she adeptly publishes, mentors, and advises. She earned her BS in agriculture from the University of Tennessee and MLA from the Harvard GSD.

 

David Jay Berkson, ASLA SWA Group Laguna Beach, Calif.

 

David Berkson was nominated by the Southern California Chapter in the Works Category. He designs places that have meaning as well as function and contain a strong accessible experience. He demonstrates that the quality of our surroundings directly influences the quality of our lives. His focus on the interplay of contextual forces is like that of a weaver of fine tapestry. He is an intellectual, a consummate collaborator, and master multi-disciplinary team weaver. Mr. Berkson harbors a private passion for making special places in the public realm. His decade-long effort to plan the replenishment of Beverly Hills trees was just one of the many legacies he has bestowed on Southern California. His BFA is from Tufts and MLA from the Harvard GSD.

 

Christopher Brown, ASLA SmithGroupJJR Phoenix

 

Christopher Brown was nominated by the Arizona Chapter in the Works Category. His portfolio shows his love and respect for nature, native materials, and vernacular design. In the mid-1980s, he established the Native Plant Protection Ordinance and Hillside Overlay Method to protect the areas around Scottsdale and Phoenix from rampant development. Those guidelines are still in use today. As a writer, lecturer, and educator, he freely shares his knowledge through compelling interpretation and education. His credo, after the field work is done, is: "If nobody knows you did anything, then you did a good job." His BS in urban planning and landscape architecture is from Arizona State University and MS in real estate development from MIT.

 

Richard C. Burck, Jr., ASLA Richard Burck Associates Somerville, Mass.

 

Richard Burck was nominated by the Boston Society of Landscape Architects in the Works Category. He has long stood apart. In 1981 he was awarded the Rome Prize in Landscape Architecture and named a finalist in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Competition. To this day, he continues his pursuit of strong formal, social, and sustainable contributions. His design brings public attention to the abilities of landscape architects to shape the civic environment. In Boston, he organized a symposium that initiated that city's subsequent street planting plan and was pivotal in driving forward the Innovation District located on the South Boston waterfront. He earned his BS in landscape architecture from Michigan State University, was a merit scholar at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, and received his MLA from the Harvard GSD.

 

Samuel R. Coplon, ASLA Coplon Associates, Inc. Bar Harbor, Me.

 

Samuel Coplon was nominated by the Boston Society of Landscape Architects in the Works Category. His community plans, and contributions to land protection have lent considerable visibility to landscape architecture in his region. Media coverage has popularized local ordinances that foster cluster development, affordable housing, and resource protection. His reinvigoration and reinterpretation of the Gilded Age tradition of coastal Maine has had a national and regional influence on large-scale, affordable land conservation. He has the range to craft intimate residential landscapes as well as public, institutional, and historically significant projects. His ability to transform prosaic land forms into extraordinary landscape designs has made his firm essential in the eyes of clients nationwide. He received his BS in engineering from Tufts University and MLA from the Harvard GSD.

 

Barbara L. Deutsch, ASLA Landscape Architecture Foundation Washington, D.C.

 

Barbara Deutsch was nominated by the Potomac Chapter in the Leadership/Management Category. She has brought considerable credibility to the value of landscape architecture through easily grasped and clearly valid measurements of landscape performance. She showcases the value of the profession to hundreds of students, allied professionals, nonprofit organizations, and the general public. Through the online Landscape Performance Series and Case Study Investigation research collaboration, she has put the profession front and center of collaborative sustainability. With a strong business background, she has also put the Landscape Architecture Foundation in a financial position that allows it to carry out these vital efforts. She holds a BS in commerce from the University of Virginia, MLA from the University of Washington, and was a Loeb Fellow at the Harvard GSD.

 

Colin L. Franklin, ASLA Andropogon Associates, Ltd. Philadelphia

 

Colin Franklin was nominated by the Pennsylvania/Delaware Chapter in the Works Category. Often working with local, readily available, and inexpensive materials, he blends and transforms them into poetic places that serve people superbly. Throughout his career, he has led the way in the creation of synergy among science, engineering, and design. His lifelong commitment is to preserve and revitalize the unique cultural and natural resources of each place and reinforce the best in new development. He was an early proponent of biodiversity and natural stormwater drainage and warned of the dangers of global warming. He has worked around the world solving complex real estate issues at very large scales. He received his diploma in architecture from Northern Polytechnic, London, and MLA from the University of Pennsylvania.

 

Donald S. Ganje, ASLA Saint Paul Parks & Recreation Saint Paul, Minn.

 

Donald Ganje was nominated by the Minnesota Chapter in the Works Category. With his eye for the smallest site detail and mastery of vast public open spaces, he has the ability to make places where people feel welcome and that comfort, excite, and encourage them to interact. He further infuses his colleagues with a passion for the highest levels of design excellence. He has devoted his career to the public sector in a city whose residents place high value on their parks, rivers, and open spaces--an appreciation that he encourages at every opportunity. He continues to dedicate himself to the improvement of the entire region, from one-block Mears Park to the 3,500-acre Mississippi National River and Recreation Area. He earned his BLA from the University of Minnesota.

 

Cynthia L. Girling, ASLA University of British Columbia Vancouver, B.C.

 

Cynthia Girling was nominated by the Oregon Chapter in the Knowledge Category. The influence of her work extends across the Canadian/U.S. Cascadia region, which is well recognized as one of the continent's premier proving grounds for green urbanism. In the mid-1990s she first refined the guiding principles and mission that have consistently put her at the forefront of researchers, educators, and writers who themselves are the vanguard of sustainable-design innovation. Her body of work--including lectures, technical papers, two books, and an extensive list of master's degree recipients--promises to extend her still-evolving vision for shaping sustainable communities well into the future throughout North America. She received her bachelor of environmental studies from the University of Manitoba and BLA and MLA from the University of Oregon.

 

Ray Green, ASLA University of Melbourne Melbourne, Australia

 

Ray Green was nominated by the ASLA Council of Fellows Executive Committee in the Knowledge Category. He is widely noted for his substantial landscape architecture research, teaching, and practice. His most noteworthy achievements have come from his generation of fresh insights and how he shares those widely though international publications, speaking engagements, and work across a range of professional communities. His research has revealed, for instance, how various communities react to rapid environmental transformation from tourism and population shifts, which is especially critical with fragile coastlines, wetlands, and mountains. He also studies the benefits of ecotourism as it increases the contact with nature of an increasingly urban population. He received his BS from the University of Connecticut, MLA from the University of Arizona, and PhD from the Queensland University of Technology.

 

Robin Lee Gyorgyfalvy, ASLA U.S. Forest Service Deschutes National Forest, Ore.

 

Robin Gyorgyfalvy was nominated by the Oregon Chapter in the Leadership/Management Category. Her innovative policy for communities adjacent to federal properties--scenic byways and rivers, national monuments, wilderness, and conservation areas--has set the standard for conservation education, interpretation, and accessibility. As a major attraction in the Pacific Northwest, the Cascade Lakes Highway introduce a land conservation ethic now embraced by the surrounding communities. Her planning efforts have also brought three million dollars in grants to central Oregon to continue Park Service efforts. Ongoing projects include new welcome station facilities, historic guard station restoration, interpretive signs, and outdoor classrooms that encourage respectful recreation on public lands. She earned a BA in sculpture from Mt. Holyoke College and her BLA and MLA from the University of Oregon.

 

James M. Heid Jr., ASLA UrbanGreen, Inc. San Francisco

 

James Heid was nominated by the Northern California Chapter in the Leadership/Management Category. His design and business experience have revealed to him an important lesson that he communicates to design professionals and real-estate developers alike: landscape architects are positioned to play a strong role as team integrators, a strategy essential in their increasingly interdisciplinary design projects. By learning the language and mechanics of real estate economics, he has been able to magnify significantly his ability to influence decision makers and explore new opportunities for landscape architects. He established his firm, UrbanGreen, to serve as a sustainable development advisor and provide complex team management to projects around the world. He earned his BLA from the University of Idaho and MS in real estate development from MIT.

 

Ron Henderson, ASLA Pennsylvania State University University Park, Pa.

 

Ron Henderson was nominated by the Rhode Island in the Knowledge Category. He worked as the first full-time, non-Chinese architecture faculty member in China, introducing the discipline as an inaugural faculty member at the Tainghua University landscape architecture program. His prolific writings have established many academic ties between Asian and American professionals and students, which includes a long-term research focus on routine maintenance in both China and Japan, where he holds a research fellowship on the critical topic. He has introduced Chinese contemporary landscape projects and designers internationally as well. An outstanding teacher, he continues his professional leadership as the head of the Penn State Department of Landscape Architecture. His BArch is from the University of Notre Dame and MArch and MLA from the University of Pennsylvania.

 

Jennifer Jones, ASLA Carol R. Johnson Associates, Inc. Boston

 

Jennifer Jones was nominated by the Boston Society of Landscape Architects in the Service Category. Her extensive accomplishments through volunteer activities and professional practice have significantly advanced the public's appreciation of how the landscape architects enhance the greater good of communities everywhere. As one example, early in 2012 she joined a team of volunteers in Haiti. Her contributions stabilized the steep slope of a site for a locally operated clinic. She has also been to Rwanda, where her plans included demonstration gardens. She is a frequent volunteer and lecturer worldwide, including her own hometown, Boston, and has an equally significant public engagement through her landscape architecture practice. She received her BS in environmental design from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and MLA from the Harvard GSD.

 

Keith LeBlanc, ASLA Keith LeBlanc Landscape Architecture Boston

 

Keith LeBlanc was nominated by the Boston Society of Landscape Architects in the Works Category. His understanding of materials, context, and clarity of spatial composition is apparent in every one of his projects. His exquisite and influential residential landscapes are at once wholly contemporary and profoundly familiar. His works are rich in the complexity of place making that comes from fine tuning his craft for years. With projects throughout the United States, he has a sensitive touch with difficult sites, with a high level of detailing and finish. His nuanced use of plants imbues his spaces with rhythm, mystery, and dynamic contrast. He focuses on the needs of clients with a rigorous process that combines livability with striking elegance. He earned his BLA from Louisiana State University.

 

Rodney P. Mercer, ASLA URS Group Gaithersburg, Md.

 

Rodney Mercer was nominated by the Potomac Chapter in the Leadership/Management Category. His support for the profession includes significant participation in both national and chapter programs. His long-time contributions as national staff landscape architect, in addition to his chapter leadership, are particularly noteworthy. He also led the multidisciplinary consultant team that prepared the Memorials and Museums Master Plan for the National Capital Planning Commission and thus ensured that future memorial sites will complement the L'Enfant, McMillan, and Legacy plans for Washington. He was Potomac Chapter president in 1990, and his years in service have helped advance the profession to its elevated stature today. He received his BS in environmental sciences and BLA from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

 

Mary Myers, ASLA Temple University Philadelphia

 

Mary Myers was nominated by the Pennsylvania/Delaware Chapter in the Knowledge Category. The sum of her contributions to scholarly research, teaching, and forward-looking leadership have significantly enlarged and enriched the domain of landscape architecture professional knowledge. In research and publications, she has advanced the field in parkway design, human perception of landscapes, and sustainability. Her comprehensive focus is on applied research, particularly in the linkage of aesthetic and scientific theory. In 2011 she became one of ten Landscape Architecture Foundation research fellows selected to study landscape performance. Her combination of data collection resulted in specific and defensible findings in keeping with her focus on validity and usefulness. She earned her BSLA from the University of Wisconsin, MLA from the Harvard GSD, and PhD from Heriot-Watt University.

 

Forster O. Ndubisi, ASLA Texas A&M University College Station, Tex.

 

Forster Ndubisi was nominated by the Texas Chapter in the Knowledge Category. As a scholar, outstanding educator, academic practitioner, and distinguished administrator, he has been supremely influential in advancing the art, science, and craft of ecological design and planning. His role in finding interconnecting threads in the current cross-disciplinary body of knowledge on sustainability led to his landmark Ecological Planning in 2002. His three chief areas of interest have been the systematic examination of history, theory, and ecological design and planning; the role that human experience and values play in community design; and regionalism as an intervention approach to rapid metropolitan expansion. He earned his BS in zoology from the University of Ibadan, MLA from the University of Guelph, and PhD from the University of Waterloo.

 

Christine G. Pattillo, ASLA PGAdesign Oakland, Calif.

 

Chris Patillo was nominated by the Northern California Chapter in the Service Category. Most recently, her vision and advocacy have led to her creative and administrative leadership in the ASLA Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS). Her drive and organizational skills have moved HALS to the forefront of landscape preservation in California and the United States at large. Her creative and focused efforts to build the network--and increase widespread awareness of the importance of cultural landscapes and high-quality HALS documentation--have moved the resource to an international level of high regard. Practicing what she professes, her firm, PGAdesign, has completed the single largest HALS set in the United States: San Francisco's Doyle Drive, which traverses the Presidio. She holds a BA and MLA from UC Berkeley.

 

Dean J.R. Pearson, ASLA The Architerra Group, Inc. Littleton, Colo.

 

Dean Pearson was nominated by the Colorado Chapter in the Service Category. He is a leader, mentor, and community servant who unflaggingly encourages others in his firm to follow in his footsteps. He finishes every task not with the idea that his service is complete, but that he is ready for other goals. His involvement as Colorado Chapter president earned it recognition with the ASLA President's Cup. He led the effort for an upgraded CLARB examination, was instrumental in the Colorado practice law, serves on the State Board of Landscape Architects, and was able to put aside grief as he strove to realize the Columbine Memorial. From the local level, to the state, and beyond, he leads by example. He received his BSLA from Cornell University.

 

Robert N. Pine, ASLA Pine & Swallow Environmental Groton, Mass.

 

Robert Pine was nominated by the Boston Society of Landscape Architects in the Knowledge Category. As a scientist, engineer, and landscape architect, he is an exceptionally creative and open-minded problem solver of international significance. He has developed breakthrough quality-control procedures to ensure blending, installation, and maintenance of optimally effective landscape soils, drainage, and planting. Moreover, through his deep understanding and interest in modern soil, horticultural, and hydrologic design, he has expanded the body of knowledge in regional ecosystems analysis. He uses this understanding to great effect in educating others on the development of comprehensive ecological plans and protection of major tracts of environmentally vital land. He holds a BS in civil engineering and MS in geotechnical engineering from Cornell University and his MLA from the Harvard GSD.

 

Mark A. Robertson, ASLA MESA Landscape Architects, Inc. Little Rock, Ark.

 

Mark Robertson was nominated by the Arkansas Chapter in the Leadership/Management Category. In his public service and organizational accomplishments here and abroad, he uses every opportunity to present landscape architecture as a profession vital to public well-being. His ability to build consensus among diverse disciplines on complex issues has led to leadership positions in each of the organizations with which he has served. He shows little regard for the long hours involved as he has bettered the life and livability of his community, region, and beyond. His guidance as an adjunct professor, professional advisory board member, cooperative extension leader, and much more has ensured a better today for us and future for our children. His BLA and MS in ornamental horticulture are from the University of Arkansas.

 

Steven N. Rodie, ASLA University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, Neb.

 

Steven Rodie was nominated by the Great Plains Chapter in the Knowledge Category. Through the mutual respect he engenders among landscape architects, engineers, arborists, landscape managers, the public, politicians, and students, he reveals to everyone he encounters the significant benefits to all of community landscape design and sustainability. His support of professional licensure in Nebraska includes a five-year appointment to the State Board of Landscape Architects. His expertise in sustainable design and stormwater management is sought by community leaders and planning professionals across the Midwest. He is always eager to contribute his talents and insight to the advancement of landscape architecture and its core principles. He has a BS in forest management from Colorado State University and MLA from Kansas State University.

 

Cynthia W. Smith, ASLA Halvorson Design Partnership, Inc. Boston

 

Cynthia Smith was nominated by the Boston Society of Landscape Architects in the Works Category. As a creator of exemplary urban and academic settings, she is widely admired for her commitment to the creative potential of productive collaboration with allied design professions, artists, and community groups. She is a talented mentor whose experience and hard work helped build her firm into an influential New England-based practice. As seen in her redesign of the MIT Sloan School campus, she is a master at inside/outside relationships that create a strong sense of place. She is well recognized in the Boston and Cambridge region for her waterfronts, over-deck landscapes, campuses, multi-modal plans, and art collaborations. She has a BLA from the University of Oregon and MLA from the Harvard GSD.

 

Kenneth W. Smith, ASLA WORKSHOP: Ken Smith Landscape Architect New York City

 

Ken Smith was nominated by the New York Chapter in the Works Category. He is equally at home in the worlds of art, architecture, and urbanism and creates his compelling landscape experiences through transformative designs characterized by formal inventiveness and conceptual boldness. He has lectured extensively on the importance of establishing continuums of scale from waterfronts to back yards and argues for both increased conceptual clarity in contemporary landscape architecture and more refined attention to the details of craft. There should be no nebulous middle, he says. And instead of the top-down design approach so commonly taught in schools, it is often the bottom-up inductive approach that produces the most salient ideas. He earned his BSLA at Iowa State University and MLA from the Harvard GSD.

 

L. Wesley Stout, ASLA Wesley Stout Associates, LLC New Canaan, Conn.

 

Wesley Stout was nominated by the Connecticut Chapter in the Works Category. He has amassed an extensive portfolio of award-winning projects committed to urban richness. He combines social connectivity, harmonious waterfront corridors, environmental responsibility, and aesthetics to draw in and engage pedestrians. Perhaps key among his successful urban transformations is Stamford, Conn., as an international financial center, which includes the Royal Bank of Scotland headquarters, the largest project in the state to attain LEED Gold. He has also worked to extend the city's greenway and connect it to its waterfront. Within his firm, he shares his time and experience generously as a mentor and champion of both licensure and involvement in the ASLA. He received his BSLA from Ohio State University and his MBA from the University of Connecticut.

 

Frederic E. Stresau, ASLA Stresau, Smith and Stresau Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

 

Frederic Stresau was nominated by the Florida Chapter in the Service Category. His work, which includes 40 years of pro bono service to his city, is an outstanding model for all landscape architects who support the ASLA goal to raise public awareness of the profession. In 1971 he received his first mayoral appointment as a member of the Fort Lauderdale Planning and Zoning Board. His many subsequent years of community service led to his selection in 2009 as the city's most distinguished citizen of the year. He has mentored dozens of future landscape architects to follow in his footsteps of generous public service in order to maintain the beauty of their Atlantic Coast South Florida communities. He earned his BLA from North Carolina State University.

 

Henry M. White III, ASLA HM White Site Architects New York City

 

Henry White was nominated by the New York Chapter in the Works Category. His designs, often in collaboration with the world's most distinguished architects and urban planners, are widely published. They are well made, well used, and praised by clients, professionals, and design critics alike. He emerged as a force during a time when New York City was determined to redevelop its waterfront, streetscapes, parks, and other open spaces, and his was an influential voice in that historic transformation. He has also served his region on many influential boards and has shared his knowledge, sophistication, innovation, and tenacity in cityscapes around the globe. His work has shaped the current direction of landscape architecture. He received his BA from Bucknell University and MLA from the Harvard GSD.

 

James J. Wolterman, ASLA SWT Design, Inc. St. Louis

 

Jim Wolterman was nominated by the St. Louis Chapter in the Leadership/Management Category. As cofounder of SWT Design, he has cultivated a firm that leads the profession in sustainability and high design. The firm's three-star SITES(TM) rating for the Novus International Global Headquarters makes the project the highest-rated landscape design in the world. With his knowledge and dedication--plus his entrepreneurial spirit--he is endowed with the rare ability always to see the big picture. His concomitant commitment to the community at large has also leveraged the profession's reputation as vital to the well-being of people everywhere. His commitment to organic resource management and rain garden and green roof innovations are emulated across the nation. His BLA is from Iowa State University and MBA from Webster University.

 

Dana Anne Yee, ASLA Dana Anne Yee, Landscape Architect, LLC Honolulu

 

Dana Anne Yee was nominated by the Hawaii Chapter in the Service Category. She is among those exceptional landscape architects and related professionals who are able to sustain such a high level of community commitment over an entire career. She has led more than 26 nonprofit-based projects in her 26 years as a welcome presence in the landscape architecture profession. One of her specialties is the design of school and community play areas for economically disadvantaged children. She is steadfast in her belief that natural settings develop healthy, engaged minds, especially in young children. Another of her focuses is preserving the delicate ecosystem of Hawaii, which she advocates to the state senate. Her selfless spirit reflects well on the entire profession. Her BSLA is from UC Davis.

 

Kongjian Yu, ASLA Peking University College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture Beijing, China

 

Kongjian Yu was nominated by the ASLA Council of Fellows Executive Committee in the Works Category. His range of exceptional projects has demonstrated the intellectual influence he has been able to exert as a landscape architect in China, even in the midst of its hypergrowth. As a professor, he started from scratch yet established landscape architecture as a recognized discipline at Peking University. His practice, Turenscape, also embodies his design philosophy of a harmonious living world that embraces nature, people, and spirits. The firm is itself a school that links theory with execution and provides financial support for research and education at the university. He has a BLA and MLA from Beijing Forestry University and earned a Doctor of Design from the Harvard GSD.

 

Lawrence R. Zucchino, ASLA JDavis Architects, PLLC Raleigh, N.C.

 

Lawrence Zucchino was nominated by the North Carolina Chapter in the Service Category. As a staunch advocate of sustainable design in landscape architecture and urban design, he is a pioneer in the development and application of environmental policy in North Carolina. He manages policy debate through his informed focus on science, practicality, and economics and thereby avoids partisan posturing. Other people, in turn, base their perception of him and his profession based primarily on achievement. He leads by action and has the ability to reach consensus even among contentious interest groups, as demonstrated by his two influential gubernatorial appointments to statewide policy boards. He has a BA in plant ecology and geography from UNC Chapel Hill and MLA from North Carolina State University.