Honors And Awards

ASLA Names Eight New Honorary Members

Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy, Bette Midler among the honorees


WASHINGTON, D.C., May 16, 2005—
The Board of Trustees of the American Society of Landscape Architects has selected eight individuals to receive honorary membership. Honorary membership is one of the highest honors ASLA may bestow upon non-landscape architects, and since its founding in 1899, the Society has conferred honorary membership upon only 90 individuals. The 2005 honorees received their certificates on May 13 at a dinner in their honor in Washington, D.C.

Randall Arendt, Honorary ASLA, of Amherst, Massachusetts, is a town planner by training and serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Massachusetts. He has worked for more than three decades as an author, educator, and site designer, defining and illustrating a more creative, environmentally responsible approach to land planning. Arendt has long promoted the belief that landscape architects should be the lead designers of conservation subdivisions, with engineers playing a subordinate, supporting role on the planning team until the stage when engineering details are prepared. He has served on ASLA's Professional Awards Jury and last year was named a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Planners in London.



Charles Eliot Beveridge, PhD, Honorary ASLA, of Washington, D.C., is the leading authority on the work of Frederick Law Olmsted, the founder of the landscape architecture profession. Since 1986, he has been the series editor of the Olmsted Papers Project at American University, a 12-volume series published by Johns Hopkins Press. Beveridge has presented more than 100 lectures on Olmsted and his firm to public, professional, and academic audiences. He has served as the historical and design consultant on the restoration and rehabilitation of some 40 Olmsted parks, public grounds, and other designs and has co-curated numerous exhibitions on Olmsted.


Edward A. Feiner, FAIA, Honorary ASLA, of Washington, D.C., is the former chief architect of the General Services Administration, provided national leadership for our nation’s design and construction activities for many years. His legacy will ensure that the dignity of our nation is reflected in its public buildings. Recognizing that security design should also incorporate good design, Feiner joined ASLA in planning, sponsoring, and participating in two symposia on the subject. He is now the director of the Washington Center for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.


Barbara A. King, Honorary ASLA, of Delano, Minnesota, is the president of Landscape Structures Inc., has referred to landscape architects as "the salt of the earth and unsung heroes (who) literally change the way we look at the world." Founded in 1971, Landscape Structures is one of the leading play equipment manufacturers in the world and among ASLA's strongest supporters. In addition to her support of the landscape architecture profession through ASLA, King personally sponsors a yearly scholarship at her alma mater, Iowa State University, for a landscape architect student showing initiative as an entrepreneur.


William C. Main, Honorary ASLA, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, is president of Landscape Forms, has been an active and generous supporter of student landscape architecture programs, the Michigan ASLA chapter, national ASLA programs, and the Landscape Architecture Foundation for many years. Main's company, Landscape Forms, Inc., is one of the premier designers and manufacturers of outdoor commercial furnishings in the world and actively seeks input from the landscape architecture profession in designing products that respond to the needs of the practice


Ed McMahon, Honorary ASLA, of Washington, D.C., is an attorney by training and is a nationally renowned author and speaker on land conservation and urban design. McMahon was recently named the Urban Land Institute's Charles Fraser Senior Fellow for Sustainable Development. He is also the co-founder and former president of Scenic America, a national nonprofit organization devoted to protecting America's scenic landscapes. In a recent speech, McMahon said, "If you think green space is expensive, just imagine the future costs for clean air, clean water, and healthy natural systems if we don't invest in green infrastructure today."


Bette Midler, Honorary ASLA, of New York City, is best known as a singer and actress, but in the past decade she has also become a tireless crusader for good stewardship of public spaces. In 1995, she created the New York Restoration Project to reverse the decay of New York City's parks, roadways, and open spaces and remains personally committed to restoring hundreds of acres of the city's public realm back to a healthy and attractive condition. Over the past 10 years, the New York Restoration Project has raised more than $18 million for New York parks and has a number of vibrant programs under way, including teaching young people about the importance of the parks and training them to care for them.


The Honorable Tom Murphy, Honorary ASLA, Mayor of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has transformed the physical environment of the city of Pittsburgh in his three terms as mayor. The fruits of his labor can be seen in the redevelopment of the riverfront, in the expansion of the city's recreational facilities and trails, in the newly upgraded and much safer city playgrounds, in the economic development of the city's industrial brownfield sites, and in the master planning for the city's four large regional parks. Throughout his tenure, he has been a stalwart supporter of landscape architecture and the profession.


 

Founded in 1899, ASLA is the national professional association for landscape architects representing more than 15,000 members. Landscape architecture is a comprehensive discipline of land analysis, planning, design, management, preservation, and rehabilitation. ASLA promotes the landscape architecture profession and advances the practice through advocacy, education, communication, and fellowship. Learn more about landscape architects at www.asla.org.

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