Recognizing Outstanding Contributions to the Profession of Landscape Architecture

Magdalena Aravena, ASLA, receiving the Emerging Professional Medal from Immediate Past President Tom Mroz, FASLA, at the 2021 ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture in Nashville. / image: Jason Mallory

The honors awarded by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) each year recognize individuals and organizations for their lifetime achievements and notable contributions to the profession of landscape architecture.

Nominations will be accepted through Friday, February 4, 2022, 6:00 p.m. (Eastern), for the ASLA Medal, ASLA Design Medal, Community Service Awards, Jot D. Carpenter Teaching Medal, LaGasse Medals, Landscape Architecture Firm Award, Landscape Architecture Medal of Excellence, Olmsted Medal, Emerging Professional Medal, and Honorary ASLA Membership.

Any ASLA professional member or ASLA chapter may submit nominations for ASLA honors. Learn more about these prestigious awards below.

For details on the nomination criteria by category, click the links below. Honors nomination categories are:

The ASLA Medal

The ASLA Medal is ASLA’s highest honor, bestowed upon a landscape architect whose lifetime achievements and contributions to the profession have had a unique and lasting impact on the welfare of the public and the environment.

Recent ASLA Medal winners: Darwina Neal, FASLA; Anne Whiston Spirn, FASLA; Carol Franklin FASLA; Linda Jewell, FASLA; Charles Birnbaum, FASLA; Kurt Culbertson, FASLA; M. Paul Friedberg, FASLA; Richard Bell, FASLA

Patricia O’Donnell, FASLA, accepts the 2021 ASLA Medal, awarded posthumously to Darwina Neal, FASLA / image: Jason Mallory

The ASLA Design Medal

The ASLA Design Medal recognizes an individual landscape architect who has produced a body of exceptional design work at a sustained level for a period of at least ten years.

Recent ASLA Design Medal winners: Thomas Oslund, FASLA; Martha Schwartz, FASLA; Douglas Reed, FASLA; Mikyoung Kim, FASLA; Gary Hilderbrand, FASLA; James Burnett, FASLA; Thomas Balsley, FASLA; Andrea Cochran, FASLA

2021 Community Service Award winner Ernie Wong, FASLA / image: Jason Mallory

The Community Service Awards

The Community Service Award recognizes an individual landscape architect or group of landscape architects who have provided sustained, pro bono service to the community demonstrating sound principles or values of landscape architecture.

Recent Community Service Award winners: Ernie (Ernest) Wong, FASLA; Glen Dake, FASLA; Kimberlee Douglas, ASLA; John T. Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies; DesignJones, LLC; Martin Barry, ASLA; Randolph Hester Jr., FASLA; William L. Flournoy Jr., FASLA

2021 Emerging Professional Medal winner Magdalena Aravena, ASLA / image: Jason Mallory

The ASLA Emerging Professional Medal

This medal recognizes an individual landscape architect who has demonstrated exceptional leadership and considerable contribution to the profession of landscape architecture, the prospective recipient’s community, and/or a firm or design team. Nominees must be a landscape architect within the first 10 years of their career.

Recent Emerging Professional Medal winners: Magdalena Aravena, ASLA; Diana Fernandez Bibeau, ASLA

Dr. Lolly Tai, FASLA, a professor of landscape architecture at Temple University, received the 2021 Jot D. Carpenter Teaching Medal / image: Jason Mallory

The Jot D. Carpenter Teaching Medal

The Jot D. Carpenter Teaching Medal recognizes an individual who has made a sustained and significant contribution to landscape architecture education.

Recent Jot D. Carpenter Teaching Medal winners: Lolly Tai, FASLA; Stephanie Rolley, FASLA; Dr. Lee-Anne Milburn, FASLA; Patrick Miller, FASLA; Elizabeth K. Meyer, FASLA; Chip Sullivan, ASLA; Carl Steinitz, Hon. ASLA; William Tishler, FASLA

The LaGasse Medals

The LaGasse Medals recognize notable contributions by individuals to the management and conservancy of natural resources and/or public landscapes.

Recent LaGasse Medal winners: Barrett Kays, FASLA; Dan Wenk; Tom O’Rourke; Julie Hensley, ASLA; David Archambault, Hon. ASLA; Scott Bradley, FASLA; Janette Sadik-Khan, Hon. ASLA; Kenneth Bahlinger, ASLA; Mia Lehrer, FASLA; Gregory Long, Hon. ASLA; Ramiro Villalvazo, ASLA

ASLA 2021 Professional Honor Award in General Design.
Ferrous Foundry Park, Lawrence, Massachusetts. STIMSON. / image: Ngoc Doan

The Landscape Architecture Firm Award

The Landscape Architecture Firm Award, the highest honor that ASLA may bestow on a landscape architecture firm, recognizes firms that have produced bodies of distinguished work influencing the professional practice of landscape architecture.

Recent Landscape Architecture Firm Award winners: STIMSON; James Corner Field Operations; Heritage Landscapes LLC; Andropogon Associates; Gustafson Guthrie Nichol Ltd; Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc.; The Office of James Burnett; Oehme van Sweden & Associates

The 2021 Landscape Architecture Medal of Excellence was awarded to the Potomac Chapter ASLA Advocacy Committee, including Dena Kennett, ASLA. / image: Jason Mallory

The Landscape Architecture Medal of Excellence

The Landscape Architecture Medal of Excellence recognizes significant contributions to landscape architecture policy, research, education, project planning, and design, or a combination of these items.

Recent Landscape Architecture Medal of Excellence winners: Potomac Chapter ASLA Advocacy Committee; Paul Busse; Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF); Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collections; Central Park Conservancy; National Park Service; City of Scottsdale Preservation Division and McDowell Sonoran Conservancy; Friends of the High Line

Mary Alice Lee, Hon. ASLA, Director of the NYC Playgrounds Program, receiving the 2021 Olmsted Medal / image: Jason Mallory

The Olmsted Medal

The Olmsted Medal recognizes individuals, organizations, agencies, or programs outside the profession of landscape architecture for environmental leadership, vision, and stewardship.

Recent Olmsted Medal winners: NYC Playgrounds Program; The Garden Conservancy; Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (RI); Forterra; Atlanta BeltLine Inc. and Atlanta BeltLine Partnership; The Hon. Michael Nutter; Design Trust for Public Space; Adrian Benepe, Hon. ASLA

Heather Whitlow, Hon. ASLA, Director of Programs and Communications for the Landscape Architecture Foundation, was recognized as an honorary member of ASLA in 2021. / image: Jason Mallory

Honorary Membership

Honorary Membership recognizes persons other than landscape architects whose achievements of national or international significance or influence have provided notable service to the profession of landscape architecture.

2021 Honorary Members: Representative Peter Defazio, Vicki Phillipy, Christina Smith, Heather Whitlow, and Rhea Williams

Honors recipients are recognized at the President’s Dinner during the ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture / image: Jason Mallory

All nominations must be submitted as a high resolution PDF and sent via WeTransfer to honorsawards@asla.org by Friday, February 4, 2022, 6:00 p.m. (Eastern).

Questions about the nomination process for ASLA honors and honorary membership may be directed to honorsawards@asla.org or (202) 216-2331.

Kona A. Gray, FASLA, was awarded the 2021 President’s Medal / image: Jason Mallory

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