ASLA 2019 Honors recipients
The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) announced its 2019 Honors recipients. Selected by ASLA’s Board of Trustees, the honors represent the highest awards ASLA presents each year. Honors will be presented at ASLA’s annual President’s Dinner during the Conference on Landscape Architecture in San Diego, Calif., this November.
In addition, ASLA announced the induction of six honorary members in 2019. Honorary membership is among the greatest honors ASLA may bestow upon non-landscape architects in recognition of notable service to the profession. Since its inception in 1899, ASLA has inducted only 231 honorary members.
The ASLA Medal:
Carol Franklin, FASLA
Carol Franklin is a founding principal of Andropogon Associates. She is a nationally recognized expert in sustainable design and has been a leader in the field since 1975. As an ecological landscape architect, she has worked for more than three decades to develop sustainable communities and institutions, generating solutions that integrate historical, cultural, economic, and environmental concerns. Carol was an adjunct professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania from 1972-2002, and in cultural landscapes in the Department of Historic Preservation. She has written and lectured on American traditions in art, landscape and architecture. She is currently co-authoring a book on the social, political, and ecological history of the Wissahickon Valley.
The ASLA Design Medal:
Douglas Reed, FASLA
Douglas Reed’s career has been remarkable for the consistency of his design achievement, the passion he shares with students, colleagues, and clients, and his boundless commitment to improving the world we live in through design. He has successfully positioned select urban commissions into larger agendas to accelerate revitalization efforts within cities, most recently in Houston, Texas, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Doug is a founding principle of the firm Reed Hilderbrand LLC, a 2013 ASLA Landscape Architecture Firm Award winner. His projects, his communications, and his firm Reed Hilderbrand have all won awards from various professional organizations nationwide. Doug continues to share his expertise with his students, lecturing at a broad array of schools as well as taking part in review boards. Doug is also a founding board member of the Cultural Landscape Foundation and served as board co-chair for 13 years, carving out an agenda for the organization that delivers knowledge about design heritage and how it applies to people’s everyday lives.
Community Service Award – Individual:
Kimberlee Douglas, ASLA
Kimberlee believes that each project must be considered not only for its natural systems, but for its social, historic, and economic impacts as well. She founded the award-winning firm STUDIO GAEA, where her commitment to inclusive design has driven pro-bono work on major community-oriented projects like Philadelphia’s Titan Park Master Plan and the conceptual Master Plan for the city’s George W. Nebbinger Elementary School. Kimberlee currently serves as director of the Landscape Architecture Program at Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson’s Lab for Urban + Social Innovation (LUSI). Kimberly has helped shape the Lab as a mechanism for uniting communities through innovative initiatives, such as the “Park in a Truck” (PiaT) project she co-created. Kimberlee also serves co-chair of the Architecture Construction Engineering (ACE) Legacy Project Committee, works with the Community Design Collaborative, and is an Associate with the Environmental Leadership Program which promotes and encourages new leaders in the environmental field.
The Jot D. Carpenter Teaching Medal:
Dr. Lee-Anne Milburn, FASLA
Dr. Lee-Anne Milburn has been at California Polytechnic University for nine years, where she serves as Department Chair, Acting Graduate Program Coordinator and Professor at the graduate and undergraduate levels, serving one of the most ethnically diverse student populations in the country. She is active in the Southern California Chapter of ASLA and the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA), and is a member of both organizations’ Council of Fellows. She has published 45 scholarly publications to date, 24 of which were peer-reviewed. Dr. Milburn has been recognized for her intellectual, educational and service efforts with numerous awards and recognitions.
The LaGasse Medal – Landscape Architect Professional:
Julie Hensley, ASLA
Since the beginning of her career, Julie has been concerned with the proper management of the nation’s public lands and the use of natural resources for the betterment and enjoyment of society. For 28 years, Julie served as the Director of Planning for Charleston County Parks and Recreation Commission (CCPRC) in Charleston, South Carolina. Under her leadership, CCPRC grew from 5,000 acres of protected parkland to 12,000 acres and is nationally recognized as a model for operating an ever-expanding park system with little reliance on tax subsidies for growth. Julie was also very involved in the Charleston Greenbelt Program – which has protected over 21,000 acres of land to date and purchasing over 9,300 acres for future public parks and greenspaces. Now the owner of her own firm, Julie continues to provide pro bono services for parks and public landscapes, including her design work at Folly Beach park near her home.
The LaGasse Medal – Non-Landscape Architect Professional:
Sally Jewell
From her time on executive boards to her time in the executive branch, Sally Jewell is known for her unwavering commitment to conservation and environmental protection. Sally spent her early career working in corporate America. In 1996 she joined the board of Recreational Equipment, Inc (REI) as Chief Operating Officer and later rose to Chief Executive Officer in 2005. During her tenure, the REI co-op facilitated 3 million hours of volunteer work in natural outdoor spaces and contributed three percent of annual profits on outdoor stewardship efforts. Jewel helped found the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust, which named her to its Hall of Fame for 21 years of leadership encouraging people to venture outdoors. It was this leadership that led to her appointment as Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior under President Barack Obama in 2013. Expanding access to parks and public lands was a key focus of her time at Interior, where she ushered through pivotal programs such as the Every Kid Every Park initiative, which made every fourth-grade student in the country and their families eligible for a free one-year pass to every national park. After leaving government, Jewell went to the University of Washington as an advisor to the College of the Environment’s EarthLab. She also joined the Board of The Nature Conservancy, where she will become the Interim CEO in September 2019.
The Landscape Architecture Firm Award:
Heritage Landscapes LLC
When Patricia O’Donnell founded Heritage Landscapes, LLC in 1987, there were virtually no official guidelines for historic landscape preservation works. Historic preservation traditionally focused on buildings, and few people thought of landscapes as having heritage value. Heritage stepped into that void, becoming the first landscape architecture firm in the world to focus solely on landscapes that make up our shared public heritage–places that already matter but need aid and guidance. Today, their work is fully informed by national and international preservation standards, guidelines, charters, and declarations, many of which they helped develop. Heritage strives for integration, with interventions discernible only to the trained eye, purposely in character with historic origins. They have completed off 500 projects nationally and internationally, including four World Heritage sites and some 40 National Historic Landmarks, and won 87 professional awards to date.
The Medal of Excellence:
Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF)
Founded over 50 years ago, LAF has pursued its mission to advance the profession of landscape architecture through research, education, and leadership. The Foundation has invested more than $3 million on groundbreaking research which informs professional practice, including over 150 case study investigation briefs and the Landscape Performance Series. Current research initiatives focus on the measurable environmental, social, and economic benefits of landscapes. LAF has also greatly expanded academic scholarship in the field, awarding over $1.5 million in scholarships to over 580 students since 1986. The powerful conversations, deliberations, and messages facilitated by LAF through its various programs and events continue to inspire practitioners and students alike, as it looks ahead to the next 50 years.
The Olmsted Medal:
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (RI)
United States Senate
Every week since April 2012, Senator Whitehouse has risen on the floor of the Senate and delivers a speech outlining the dangers of climate change and urging his colleagues in the Senate to action. He’s delivered over 200 of these ‘Time to Wake Up’ speeches so far. He currently serves on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, responsible for environment and infrastructure. Further, he serves on the Subcommittee for Fisheries, Water and Wildlife whose jurisdiction includes drinking water, endangered specials, wetlands, coastal protection, and other critical areas of environmental safety and stewardship. During his tenure, Senator Whitehouse has introduced, co-sponsored, and supported numerous pieces of legislation that seek to protect the environment and coastal areas. He also co-founded the Senate Oceans Caucus and continues his environmental leadership on the U.S. Congressional International Conservation Caucus.
HONORARY MEMBERSHIP:
Thomas Bradshaw
Thomas Bradshaw served the city of Raleigh, North Carolina as City Councilor, Mayor, and North Carolina Secretary of Transportation. During his years of public service, Thomas refocused city planning and design efforts to incorporate flood mitigation strategies, green infrastructure, and sustainable design. Thomas was pivotal in the implementation of a variety of sustainable projects, including flood mitigation projects, the appointment of a “Greenways Advisory Committee” to carry out the city’s Greenways Program, and expanding the NC Bicycle Program statewide.
Candace Damon
Throughout her 30-year career, Candace Damon has been a powerful force behind some of the greatest works of 21st century landscape architecture in America. She is devoted to crafting sustainable urban redevelopment strategies in cities across North America, often leveraging the potential of public parks, open space, waterfronts and public realm as the driving catalyst. In her various professional and personal roles, Candace has worked to enable outstanding works of landscape architecture, empower institutiones to drive change in sustainability,and provide critical leadership and advocacy on issues important to the profession.
Daniel Martin
Daniel has a deep passion for and commitment to the profession of landscape architecture. Since 2013, he has been a critical partner in Land8: Landscape Architecture network, a social media platform that serves as a resource for both professional landscape architects and those interested in pursuing a career in the field. Daniel has served on the ASLA Member Services Committee, served as Chair of the Emerging Professionals Committee, has been a driving force behind the Student Chapter Leadership Program, and has been called a “guiding spirit” of the annual student-led LaBash conference. His work to connect emerging professionals and students to ASLA and landscape is critical to advancing the profession.
Kitty and Tom Stoner
To Kitty and Tom, nature is not a destination or a luxury afforded only to some; it is a human right essential to the wellbeing of all people. To facilitate the spread of natural spaces, Kitty and Tom collaborated with some of the world’s preeminent landscape architects and researchers to engineer an evidence-based model called “Open Spaces, Sacred Places”; what we today call Sacred Places. Through their organization the TKF Foundation, Kitty & Tom spent the next twenty years partnering with communities to create over 130 Sacred Places in all kinds of environments where healing was necessary—hospitals, prisons, churches, and cities.
In order to better assess the health benefits of Sacred Places, Kitty & Tom undertook a six-year research initiative, the Nature Sacred Awards Program, summoning leading researchers and landscape architects to study the benefits nature can have on populations hard-hit by trauma. TKF engaged FrameWorks Institute to gauge the attitudes of the public toward urban nature. Under Kitty and Tom’s direction, TKF has now shifted its focus to promulgate this concept to new communities via Nature Sacred—an organization established to help inspire, inform and guide community activists, urban planners and landscape architects in the creation of these sacred, urban micro-parks through robust resources, tools, advisors and much more.
Marc Treib
Marc is a preeminent scholar of landscape history and design. He is an author, an editor and essayist of numerous books and publications on iconic landscapes and landscape architects, and is known for his expertise on modernist design. He is widely recognized as an authority on the work of Thomas Church and Garrett Eckbo and has shed light on other, international designers of that era. Marc has advanced the discourse of landscape architecture and positioned the critical interpretation and analysis of our work and ideologies on a level equal with other design disciplines.
