The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis honored eight outstanding architecture and art alumni at its fourth annual Awards for Distinction dinner April 28 at the Coronado Ballroom in St. Louis.
The awards recognized graduates who have demonstrated creativity, innovation, leadership and vision through their contributions to the practices of art, architecture and design, as well as to WUSTL and the Sam Fox School.
Distinguished alumni for 2011 are Marshall Brown (BA ’95) of Chicago; Richard Brown (MFA ’75) of Norwell, Mass.; Rodney Henmi, FAIA, NOMA (MAUD ’83) of Emeryville, Calif.; and Meg Fish Saligman (BFA ’87) of Philadelphia.
In addition, Susan T. Morgan, AIA, LEED AP (BS ’01) of Cambridge, Mass., and Ebony G. Patterson (MFA ’06) of Lexington, Ky., and Kingston, Jamaica, received the 2011 Young Alumni Award.
Raymond Nadaskay, AIA (BArch ’62) of Mendham, N.J., received the Distinguished Service Award. Cynthia Weese, FAIA (BS ‘62/BArch ’65) of Chicago received the Dean’s Medal. For more information, contact Aly Abrams, (314) 935-7223, or aly.abrams@wustl.edu.
Distinguished alumni awards
Marshall Brown (BA ’95)
Brown is an assistant professor in the College of Architecture at Illinois Institute of Technology, where he teaches architecture and urban design, and was the first Saarinen Architecture Fellow at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. In 2004, he co-founded the Yards Development Workshop, a collaborative organization of architects and planners formed to develop an alternative plan for the MTA Vanderbilt Rail Yards in Brooklyn, N.Y.
His many honors include an ACSA/AIAS New Faculty Teaching Award, a MacDowell Fellowship and a Rotch Travelling Studio grant to study French colonial architecture urbanism in Agadir, Morocco.
Richard Brown (MFA ’75)
Brown is president of Handshouse Studio Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to hands-on exploration of history, science, mathematics, literature, arts, culture and technology. The group — which Brown co-founded in 1999 with his wife, Laura — creates exactingly researched and constructed replicas of historic structures.
Handshouse currently is leading a two-year international project to build a full-scale replica of the 18th-century Gwozdziec wooden synagogue for the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw. Previous projects have included a massive Egyptian obelisk and a half-scale limestone replica of the Sphinx nose, both featured on PBS’s NOVA.
Rodney Henmi (MAUD ’83)
Henmi has devoted his architectural career to improving design quality in two often underserved building types: affordable housing and industrial architecture. He earned a master of architecture and urban design degree from Washington University in 1983, then joined the faculty as affiliate associate professor. In 1994, he moved to the San Francisco Bay area, where his projects have included more than 1,700 units of affordable housing; several water and wastewater treatment plants; and a major job-training center.
He is currently director of design for HKIT Architects in Oakland. A longtime advocate for minority architects, Henmi was adviser to the WUSTL chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects-Students and is president of the San Francisco NOMA chapter.
Meg Fish Saligman (BFA ’87)
Saligman has garnered international recognition for her work as a public artist, in particular as a muralist. Using a variety of media, she is known for her collaborative process and intricate designs, which bring new life to existing architecture. Her numerous projects include Common Threads, one of Philadelphia’s best-known landmarks; Once in a Millennium Moon, a 30,000-square-foot mural in Shreveport, La.; and Fertile Ground, the largest public art project in the history of the city of Omaha, Neb.
She is currently focused on creating public art that reflects upon and advances the interactive era, integrating traditional painting techniques with LED light, glass and projection.
Young alumni award
Susan T. Morgan (BS ’01)
Morgan is a senior project architect with Bruner/Cott & Associates, a Cambridge-based design firm focused on architectural preservation, sustainability and collaborative design, where her current projects include developing a dining and student services center for Boston University.
She previously worked on a wide range of projects for Schwartz/Silver Architects and for Kennedy & Violich Architecture, both in Boston, and has taught at the Boston Architectural College since 2005. In addition, Morgan mentors students and young architects in their professional and academic development, including for the Boston Society of Architects’ Women in Design committee.
Ebony G. Patterson (MFA ’06)
Patterson, an assistant professor of painting and drawing at the University of Kentucky, is a mixed-media artist who frequently investigates issues of culture, identity, gender and the female body in her work. Born in Kingston, she is the recipient of several awards and scholarships in Jamaica and internationally. In 2005, she won the Jury Prize in Jamaica’s 2005 Super Plus Under-40 Artist-of-the-Year Competition, and the following year received the Prime Minister’s Youth Award for Excellence in Art and Culture.
A four-time participant in Jamaica’s National Biennial at the National Gallery of Jamaica, Patterson has shown her work in numerous group and solo exhibitions in Jamaica, the United States, Martinique, Haiti, France and the United Kingdom.
Distinguished service award
Raymond Nadaskay (BArch ’62)
Nadaskay is co-founder and principal emeritus of NK Architects, a leader in educational and health-care projects with an emphasis on sustainable design. As principal-in-charge, he has been design architect on many of the firm’s most significant and award-winning projects. Clients have included Rutgers University, the New Jersey Department of Military Affairs, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, and Caldwell College.
In addition, Nadaskay has been committed to preserving New Jersey’s historic past and initiated the formation of a not-for-profit to restore the Ralston Cider Mill as a working museum. His longstanding contributions to Washington University include his commitment to developing scholarships for architecture students and his support of capital improvements on campus.
Dean’s medal
Cynthia Weese (BS ’62/BArch ’65)
A founding partner of Weese Langley Weese, the distinguished Chicago architecture firm, Weese taught widely before becoming dean of Washington University’s School of Architecture in 1993 — the first woman dean of a school at the university. Since stepping down as dean in 2005, she has continued her practice.
Weese Langley Weese has been involved in both new construction and adaptive reuse projects throughout the country. The firm has worked for many colleges and universities, including Grinnell College, Williams College and Regis University. It also has built hundreds of units of affordable housing and has had several projects with the Art Institute of Chicago and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Recent work includes projects for the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. The firm’s buildings have received many design awards.
A founding member of Chicago Women in Architecture and the Chicago Architecture Club, Weese served as president of American Institute of Architects (AIA) Chicago and as vice president of the national AIA board. At WUSTL, she was active in the process of planning and realizing two new buildings: the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum and Earl E. & Myrtle E. Walker Hall. Other contributions include serving on University Council, the Campus Planning Committee, the Diversity Task Force, the Building and Grounds Committee and several architect selection committees.
The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts
The Sam Fox School is a unique collaboration in architecture, art and design education. Offering professional studio programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, the Sam Fox School links four academic units — the College of Art, College of Architecture, Graduate School of Art and Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design — with the university’s nationally recognized Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum.
For more information about Sam Fox School, visit samfoxschool.wustl.edu.