Honors & Awards

The LaGasse Medal recognizes individuals who have made notable contributions to the management and conservancy of natural resources and/or public landscapes.

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, Hon. ASLA, will receive the Alfred B. LaGasse Medal for his leadership in management and conservancy of natural resources and public lands. With the well-earned reputation as America’s “greenest mayor,” Daley’s 20-year-long crusade to improve the urban environment of Chicago has launched dozens of leading initiatives, from “Green Homes for Chicago” to the “City of Chicago Energy Plan” to the recent “Adding Green to Design” program. By working to strengthen the environmental policies across Chicago’s government agencies, and by fostering public-private partnerships, Daley has created a broad-based coalition to take on the city’s environmental challenges and innovations. Integral design of landscape and building has become the norm in all departments, with green roofs, green walls, and vertical gardens playing prominently in the Mayor’s vision for a more humane and eco-sensitive public architecture in the 21st century.

Read the nomination letter by Terry Warriner Ryan, FASLA; supporting letters by Gerald W. Adelmann, Hon. ASLA; Andy Buchsbaum; Beth White;  Gerald G. Roper; and Sen. Richard J. Durbin; and supporting material.