The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts honored five outstanding architecture alumni at its 14th annual Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner March 29 at the Coronado Ballroom.
The Distinguished Alumni Awards recognize architecture graduates who have demonstrated creativity, innovation, leadership and vision through contributions to both the practice of architecture and the School.
“These awardees are selected by a group of alumni and faculty for their outstanding professional achievements,” said Bruce Lindsey, dean and professor of Architecture. “They serve as a model for our students and as an example of the kind of professionals our program seeks to develop. In this way, these individuals are not only a part of our history, but also an invaluable part of our future.”
Distinguished alumni for 2007 are Thomas A. Dutton (MAUD ’77) of Oxford, Ohio; George Nikolajevich, FAIA (MArch ’78) of St. Louis; Gene Schnair, AIA (BArch ’73, MArch ’76, MBA ’76) of San Francisco; and Laurie A. Sperling, CPSM (MArch ’79) of St. Louis.
In addition, Erik G. L’Heureux, AIA, LEED (B.A. ’96) of New York received the 2007 Young Alumni Award.
Dating back to 1910, the Sam Fox School’s College of Architecture/Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design was one of eight founding members of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. In 1962, it launched one of the nation’s first Master of Urban Design programs. Four winners of the Pritzker Prize, considered architecture’s highest honor, have taught at the school.
Dutton is an architect and professor of architecture and interior design at Miami University in Oxford. His research focuses on the connections between critical pedagogy, architectural education, urban theory and social practice, while his Over-the-Rhine Design/Build Studio focuses on rehabilitating housing in that inner-city Cincinnati neighborhood.
He coedited “Reconstructing Architecture: Critical Discourses and Social Practices”(1996) and edited “Voices in Architectural Education: Cultural Politics and Pedagogy“ (1991). He has twice served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) and received many awards for teaching, including the ACSA’s Creative Achievement Award.
Nikolajevich is a design principal for Cannon Design in St. Louis. He is the recipient of 28 awards from the American Institute of Architects (AIA), and in 1999 was elected into the AIA’s College of Fellows for Design Excellence.
His work, devoted predominantly to health-care and educational clients, demonstrates an affinity to that of the great Finnish architects Erik Gunnar Asplund and Alvar Aalto, particularly in their sculptural forms and economy of materials. His work is published nationally, and in 2004 and 2005 he received American Architecture Awards from the Athenaeum, Chicago Museum of Architecture.
Schnair is a managing partner for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) LLP’s West Coast practice, and specializes in the management of large-scale, complex projects. His project experience includes San Francisco’s Civic Center Complex, Beijing’s Finance Street and the new U.S. Embassy in Beijing, which is the largest embassy project ever undertaken by the Department of State.
He also was project manager for Canary Wharf in London, the largest commercial development in Europe, and was responsible for establishing SOM’s offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai. He is the recipient of numerous awards, most recently an AIA National Honor Award (2007) for the University of California, Merced Central Plant.
Sperling is co-founder and principal of Health, Education Research Associates Inc. (HERA), a firm delivering expert programming, planning and consulting services for a range of global laboratory clients. Founded in 1996, HERA is the only women-owned business in the country specializing in laboratory planning and design services, with offices in St. Louis, Philadelphia and Atlanta.
Sperling’s project experience includes university teaching and research laboratories; forensic/medical examiner facilities; academic medical laboratories; R&D facilities; and clinical core laboratories. She has written articles for publications such as the “R&D Magazine Handbook” and Laboratory Design Newsletter.
L’Heureux is a senior designer and associate at the New York office of Perkins Will, as well as principal of Syndicate Architecture Office PLLC, based in Singapore and New York. A LEED-accredited professional, he has practiced throughout North America, Asia and the Middle East and received numerous awards, including Interior Design’s Best of the Year Merit Award for 2006.
Since 2001, L’Heureux has served as an adjunct assistant professor for the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at the Cooper Union. Current projects include a 750,000 square-foot mixed-use development in Jeddah and a 30-story tower in Riyadh, both in Saudi Arabia.