ASLA Names Eight New Honorary Members
Monday May 16, 2:42 pm ET
Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy, Bette Midler Among the Honorees
WASHINGTON, May 16 /PRNewswire/ — 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., 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, 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, 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 effort
for the four large regional parks in the city. Throughout his tenure,
he has been a stalwart supporter of landscape architecture and the
profession.
Photos of honorary members can be found at:
http://www.asla.org/press/2005/release0516.htm.
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 http://www.asla.org.
