Washington, D.C., July 27, 2011 – The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) announced the recipients of the Society’s 2011 Honors. Selected by ASLA’s Board of Trustees, the Honors represent the highest awards ASLA presents each year. The awards ceremony will take place at the 2011 ASLA Annual Meeting & EXPO, October 30–November 2 in San Diego.

ASLA Medal: Laurie Olin, FASLA
Laurie Olin, FASLA, will receive the ASLA Medal, the Society’s highest award for a landscape architect. Founder and principal of OLIN in Philadelphia, his work includes iconic places like New York City’s Bryant Park and the Washington Monument Grounds in Washington, D.C. His professional contributions also include a lifetime of teaching future landscape architects, spending more than 30 years at the University of Pennsylvania and, before that, chairing Harvard University’s Department of Landscape Architecture. In addition, he is the author of many books and has written extensively on the history and theory of landscape design.

ASLA Design Medal: Michael Van Valkenburgh, FASLA
Michael Van Valkenburgh, FASLA, will receive the ASLA Design Medal in recognition of exceptional design work over a sustained period of at least ten years. As founder and principal of Michal Van Valkenburgh Associates, his work has earned numerous awards – including 26 ASLA Professional Awards since the firm’s founding in 1982. Van Valkenburgh has also earned the Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome and a Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award. Examples of Van Valkenburgh’s projects include Brooklyn Bridge Park and Teardrop Park in New York City, the White House Pennsylvania Avenue Renovation in Washington, D.C., and the revitalization of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis.

Jot D. Carpenter Teaching Medal: George Curry, FASLA
George Curry, FASLA, will receive the Jot D. Carpenter Teaching Medal. The award recognizes significant and sustained excellence in landscape architecture education. Curry’s academic career spans more than four decades at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. A pioneer in the field of cultural landscapes, his dedication to his students and profession earned him numerous recognitions, including the 2008 New York Professor of the Year designation from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

LaGasse Medal: Tupper Thomas
Tupper Thomas will receive the LaGasse Medal for contributions to the management and conservation of natural resources and public landscapes. Thomas served as the administrator for New York City’s Prospect Park for over 30 years and is credited with almost single-handedly turning the neglected and crime-riddled space into one of the city’s jewels. In 1980, 1.7 million people visited the Fredrick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux designed space. Through Thomas’s efforts, the restored Prospect Park now attracts more than nine million visitors annually.  

Olmsted Medal: S. Richard Fedrizzi
S. Richard Fedrizzi will receive the Olmsted Medal. The award recognizes individuals, organizations, agencies or programs outside the profession of landscape architecture for environmental leadership, vision and stewardship. Fedrizzi is the president and CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council, one of the most influential environmental and design/construction organizations in the world. Among his many accomplishments, Fedrizzi has been instrumental in supporting and encouraging the Sustainable Sites Initiative™, a partnership of ASLA, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin and the U.S. Botanic Garden to create the first national rating system for sustainable landscapes.

Landscape Architecture Firm Award: JJR
JJR will receive the Landscape Architecture Firm Award, the highest award ASLA may bestow upon a landscape architecture firm in recognition of distinguished work that influences the profession. Founded in 1961 by William Johnson, FASLA, Carl Johnson, FASLA, and Clarence Roy, FASLA, JJR now features 130 professionals in offices across the country. JJR’s work has earned 250 professional planning and design awards since the firm’s inception – including 28 in 2010. Notable firm projects include the University of Michigan, the Chicago Lakefront and the Kellogg Foundation headquarters.