Recognition Day for the School of Architecture was held on May 2, 2019, in the Robert and Freda Harrison Auditorium in Giles Hall.
Dean and Professor of the College of Architecture, Art and Design Angi Elsea Bourgeois welcomed everyone on behalf of the college.
Director and F.L. Crane Professor Michael Berk presented the School of Architecture welcome and thanked parents, spouses, partners, siblings, grandparents and other guests for supporting the graduates before introducing MSU Vice President of Campus Services Amy Tuck, who welcomed everyone to campus on behalf of the university.
Katie Blount, director of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, presented the 29th Annual Dr. William and Jean P. Giles Memorial Lecture.
The School of Architecture faculty members were recognized before announcing the awards.
2018-2019 School of Architecture awards:
Director’s Award
Recipient: Nada Abdel-Aziz
This special award recognizes an individual who has made significant contributions to the built environment and beyond.
Annual Allen & Hoshall Faculty Award
Recipient: Dr. Fred Esenwein
The architectural firm of Allen & Hoshall of Jackson, Mississippi, has established a $500 annual award to a faculty member “who has demonstrated excellence in teaching.” The award winners are selected by the fifth-year graduating class.
Tau Sigma Delta Honor Society (TSD)
Chapter President: Tony Coleman
Faculty Advisors: Professors Jacob Gines and Hans Herrmann
Tau Sigma Delta is the architectural (and allied programs) honor society open to top academic students in design disciplines. Induction does not occur until the student consistently demonstrates high academic standards and is in the third-year.
TSD Initiates: Alex Dean, Mariah Green, Avery Harmon, Sarah Hoing,
Madison Holbrook, Charlyn King, Danielle LeClercq, Bre Richeson
TSD Fifth-Year Graduates: Jake Gartman, Mitchell Hubbell, Matthew Lewis, Karly Morgan, Emily Turner, Lara Lynn Waddell, Leah Ballard Welborn
TSD Faculty/Staff Book Award
Recipient: Judy Hammett
The TSD Faculty/Staff Book Award is presented by the third- and fourth-year
members to the faculty/staff member who has inspired them to excellence.
National Organization of Minority Architecture Students (NOMAS)
Chapter President: Damion Hardy
Faculty Advisors: Dr. Christopher S. Hunter, Professor Silvina Lopez Barrera
National Organization of Minority Architecture Students (NOMAS) is the student arm of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA). Students participating seek to enhance the educational experience of its members by fostering diversity within the School of Architecture and the community at-large.
The 2019 NOMAS Diversity Award
Recipient: Damion Hardy
Chosen by the NOMAS membership, the NOMAS Diversity Award is given to a student who has shown outstanding initiative and leadership in promoting diversity within the School and the larger community.
Alpha Rho Chi (APX)
Chapter President: Rory Fitzpatrick
Faculty Advisor: Professor Jacob Gines
Alpha Rho Chi is the only national co-ed professional/social fraternity for architecture and the allied arts. MSU’s Hippodamus chapter includes members representing architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, and engineering. Their mission is academic excellence, and the group focuses on leadership, mentoring and professionalism.
Alpha Rho Chi Student Book Award
Recipient: Patrick Greene
The Alpha Rho Chi student book award is given to a graduating fifth-year
architecture student who is an active member of Alpha Rho Chi who has
furthered the mission of the fraternity through service.
American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS)
Chapter President: Baron Necaise
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Fred Esenwein
American Institute of Architecture Students is the student counterpart of the American Institute of Architects. The chapter works closely with professional architects in the state through the Mississippi Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
AIAS Member of the Year Award
Recipient: Ashley Casteel
The recipient of the AIAS Award is chosen by the AIAS membership. The qualifications for this award are: “…that the student goes above and beyond what has been asked of him/her; has shown initiative and leadership qualities; has been an AIAS leader within his/her year level; and does well academically.”
(not available for photograph)
First-Year Faculty Book Award
Studio Coordinator: Professor Silvina Lopez Barrera
Recipient: Jacob Pritchard
This award is a book selected by the first-year faculty and is presented to a first-year student selected on the basis of ‘design excellence’.
Second-Year Faculty Book Award
Studio Coordinator: Dr. Fred Esenwein
Recipients: Nada Abdel-Aziz, John Spraberry
This award is a book selected by the second-year faculty and is presented to a second-year student selected on the basis of ‘design excellence’.
Third-Year Faculty Book Award
Studio Coordinator: Professor John Poros
Recipients: Sarah Hoing, Madison Holbrook, Suzanne Drue Smith
This award is a book selected by the third-year faculty and is presented to a third-year student/s selected on the basis of ‘design excellence’.
Fourth-Year Faculty Book Award
Studio Coordinator: Professor Jacob Gines
Recipients: Eric Hughes, Meredith Hutto
This award is a book selected by the fourth-year faculty and is presented to a fourth-
year student/s selected on the basis of ‘design excellence’.
Mississippi Forestry Association Mass Timber Award
First Place: Meredith Hutto
Second Place: Tony Coleman
Third Place: Maria Ory
The Mississippi Forestry Association Mass Timber Awards are selected by MFA Executive Board Members to recognize exceptional and innovative uses of mass timber within the 4th-year capstone studio.
ARCC King Award
Presented by: Professor John Poros
Recipient: Emily Turner
Selection for this award is made by the entire faculty. Named in honor of the late Jonathan King, co-founder and first president of the Architectural Research Centers Consortium (ARCC), this award is presented to one student per ARCC-member school. Selection of the recipient is based upon criteria that acknowledge innovation, integrity, and scholarship in architectural and/or environmental design research.
Fifth-Year Jurists’ Awards
Presented by: Associate Director Jassen Callender
Recipients: Prem Patel, Daniel Smith
The Jurists’ Award, a book award, is conferred by the fifth-year design faculty upon the student(s) who has achieved the greatest personal growth as a designer and whose work has contributed to the overall success of the fifth-year Design Studio.
Academic Achievement Award
Recipient: Lara Lynn Waddell
The Academic Achievement Award is a book award presented to the graduating fifth-year student who has the highest cumulative MSU grade point average.
CDFL Capstone Studio Travel Award
First Place: Diondria Bingham
Second Place: Matthew Lewis
Funds from Cooke Douglass Farr Lemons Architects + Engineers (CDFL)’s $5,000 fifth-year, capstone studio sponsorship were used to support the studio in areas of need and provided support for prominent external project reviewers as well as two cash awards for student travel.
Alpha Rho Chi Medal
Presented by: Director Michael Berk
Recipient: Leah Ballard Welborn
The Alpha Rho Chi Medal is awarded to the graduating fifth-year student who has shown an ability for leadership, performed willing service for the school, and gives promise of professional merit through attitude and personality. The medal is offered each year to every NAAB fully accredited school of architecture. The recipient is chosen by the entire faculty of the school.
AIA Henry Adams Medal
Presented by: Director Michael Berk
Medal Recipient: Lara Lynn Waddell
Sponsored by the American Institute of Architects, the AIA Henry Adams Medal is considered to be the most important award given to graduating students. It is awarded for “general excellence in architecture” throughout the course of study. The medal is awarded to the most qualified student, and selection is made by the entire faculty.
Students also recognized retiring faculty and staff, Director and F.L. Crane Professor Michael Berk and Library Associate Judy Hammett.
Other Notable Student Awards, 2018-2019
Aydelott Travel Award
Sarah Hoing
A $2.4 million endowment – established by the late Alfred Lewis Aydelott, FAIA, and his wife, Hope Galloway Aydelott – provides a $20,000 award each year to four architecture students currently enrolled in the professional architecture degree programs at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville; Auburn University; Mississippi State University; and the University of Tennessee. Sarah’s itinerary includes studies of architect Santiago Calatrava’s City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, Spain; Jean Nouvel’s Louvre Abu Dhabi in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Richard Meier’s Jubilee Church in Rome, Italy; and Norman Foster’s City Hall in London, England. Her research will focus on communication through natural light and rawness of structure in twenty-first century architecture. She will work next semester with her faculty mentor, Associate Professor Hans Herrmann.
Trussel Travel Award
Kaitlyn Breland
The Trussel Travel Award (funded by alumnus Ted T. Porter) is awarded to the second-place recipient of the Aydelott Travel Award. The award provides $5,000 for student travel. Kaitlyn’s proposal which focused on the nature of wood as a sustainable building material. She plans to visit some of the oldest and newest wood structures on the planet, including architect the Yusuhara Wooden Bridge Museum in Kochi, Japan; Heddal Stave Church in Heddal, Norway; and Limnologen in Vaxjo, Sweden.
National Concrete Masonry Association Unit Design Competition
“The Pulse” Team: Madison Holbrook, McKenzie Johnson, Baron Necaise
A team of three Mississippi State architecture students made the top three finalist for the 2018 NCMA competition. Baron Necaise presented on behalf of the group at the annual NCMA Conference in Chicago, where the project was selected for first place. Work was completed in the spring 2018 ARC 2723 Materials course under the guidance of Assistant Professor Jacob Gines.
Method Studio Undergraduate Research Fellows
Fall 2018: Eric Hughes; Spring 2019: Avery Harmon
Method Studio Research Fellows receive a stipend award and work on research during the semester for the Method Studio under the guidance of Assistant Professor Jacob Gines.
Association for Retired Faculty (ARF) William L. Giles Award
for Excellence in Architecture
Abby Jackson
This $500 award was established in 1997 in honor and memory of William Lincoln Giles, a charter member of ARF. It is given each year to a student selected by the School of Architecture on the basis of academic excellence and overall leadership within the school. Funding for the award comes from a contribution by Ms. Hazel Presson, aunt of Ginger Giles Jones, Dr. Giles’ daughter.
Burris Wagnon Study Abroad Travel Award
Elizabeth Bueche, Mitchell Hubbell, Nate Johnson,
Taylor McKinney, Emily Turner
Bill Burris and Stan Wagnon, principals of Burris/Wagon Architects, P.A., established the Burris Wagnon Study Abroad Travel Award to fulfill a desire to assist students traveling abroad to experience architecture. Candidates for the $500 award were fifth-year architecture students in good standing who demonstrated an interest in architectural history and theory coursework.
Paper Accepted: Southeast Society of Architectural Historians Conference
Daniel Smith
Daniel Smith’s paper, “Suturing a Site: A Semperian Interpretation of the Berlin Gedächtniskirche,” was accepted to the 2018 SESAH Conference, which was held in Manhattan, Kansas, from October 3-6, 2018. The paper was written under the guidance of Assistant Professor Dr. Fred Esenwein.
Mississippi State University Co-Op Student of the Year
Nathan Miley
Nathan Miley was named 2018 Co-Op Student of the Year by the MSU Career Center. Nathan completed his co-op with Williams Blackstock Architects and was mentored and nominated by Associate Professor Hans Herrmann.
Photographs Accepted into International Juried Art Exhibitions
Heather Gilich and Anthony Adamsky
Heather Gilich’s digital image, “Guided By The Moon,” was accepted into Fictional Narrative, an international juried exhibition. Her work was on display at the PHOTOPLACE Gallery in Middlebury, Vermont, from December 6, 2018 – January 5, 2019. Anthony Adamsky had two photos, “Television” and “Underneath,” accepted into an international gallery show via the Surreal international photography competition. The competition and exhibition was hosted by the Darkroom Gallery in Essex Jct, Vermont, where the work was on display December 20, 2018 – January 27, 2019. Heather and Anthony were under the guidance of Professor and Photography Concentration Coordinator Marita Gootee.
Herrington Architects Student Design Capstone Award
Recipients: Meredith Hutto, Daniel Ruff, Satchel Starling, Duncan Thomas
This $2,000 ($500 each) award is selected by an outside Jury Committee, including Bruce Herrington and Tim Nichols, to recognize exceptional design work among 4th-year students.
Mississippi State University Office of Research and Economic Development CAAD Undergrad Student Researcher of the Year
Tyler Scott
Tyler Scott was named 2018-2019 Mississippi State University Office of Research and Economic Development Undergraduate Student Researcher of the Year for the College of Architecture, Art and Design. Tyler received the award for research on how mass timber could be used to assist natural disaster victims. Tyler presented this research at the Mississippi State University Gulf Coast Community Design Studio’s Friday Morning Cereal and the 2018 annual Southern Timber Innovations Conference in New Orleans. He was under the guidance of Assistant Professor Jacob Gines.
Michael Barranco Endowed Memorial International Travel Fellowship
Brandon Burton, Sarah Hoing, Caleb Shaw
The Michael Barranco Endowed Memorial International Travel Fellowship was established in memory of Michael Barranco, a 1985 graduate of the School of Architecture. Michael had a passion for the importance of travel to an architecture student’s education. The fellowship is open to students who are participating in school-sponsored travel programs with a focus on experiencing significant works of architecture.
Harrison Lecture
Maria Ory
Maria Ory was invited to present a 2019 Harrison Lecture. Ory presented her research resulting from travel funded by the 2018 Aydelott Travel Award. Her research was guided by her mentor, Associate Professor Hans Herrmann.
Article with Photography Published
Matthew Murphy and Daniel Wikoff
An article, “Endangered Mississippi: Why Preservation Matters in Our State,” written by fourth-year architecture students Matthew Murphy and Daniel Wikoff was published in ELEVATION: The Journal of the Mississippi Heritage Trust’s spring 2019 issue. The article with photography by Tau Sigma Delta was featured on pages 61-63. The exhibition was under the guidance of Assistant Professor Jacob Gines.
2019-2020 Scholarships
STOA Architects Annual Scholarship
($5,000) McKenzie Johnson
Established in January 2018, the STOA Architects Annual Scholarship is available to a deserving 4th or 5th-year student currently enrolled in the School of Architecture at Mississippi State University. Qualified students must have a minimum 3.5 GPA.
Acme Brick Company Annual Scholarship
($2,000) Damion Hardy
Applicants must be: entering the fifth-year design studio in the School of Architecture; have a minimum grade point average of 3.0; be of good moral character; and have demonstrated leadership ability and strong overall academic performance.
Rowan Taylor Endowed Scholarship
($2,000) Gabriella Morelli
Applicants must be entering the fifth year of architectural study within the school; have maintained a minimum MSU 3.0 GPA; have demonstrated exceptional design work and ability to achieve exceptional design; and have demonstrated financial need.
Eley Guild Hardy Architecture Endowed Scholarship
($1,500) Audrey “Abby” Jackson
In May 2007, Taylor Guild III and David Hardy established this scholarship to assist talented students in their fifth-year of study in the architecture program.
Mockbee Hall & Drake Annual Scholarship
($1,350) Tony Coleman
Applicants must be: entering the fifth-year design studio in the School of Architecture; have a minimum grade point average of 3.0; be of good moral character; and have demonstrated leadership ability.
Lyndall Gail Wood Memorial Scholarship
($1,000) Breanna Richeson
This scholarship was established by the Wood family to honor Lyndall Gail’s passion as an MSU architecture student. Applicants must be full-time students entering the fourth-year design studio in the School of Architecture, be in excellent academic standing with the university, and be a student with exceptional design ability.
Matt L. Virden III and M.L. Virden IV Memorial Scholarship
($1,000) Audrey “Abby” Jackson
Students must be entering their third-year; have a 2.80+ GPA; be of good moral character; have demonstrated leadership; can show financial need; and a resident of: Bolivar, Carroll, Coahoma, Desoto, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Leflore, Panola, Quitman, Sharkey, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate, Tunica, Warren, Washington, or Yazoo Counties.
Stephanie Mihojevich Pizzetta Endowed Scholarship
($1,000 each) Rayce Belton, Hannah Strider
Candidates must be full-time students; have completed their second-year in the School of Architecture; have a minimum 3.0 GPA; and can demonstrate financial need.
Stephanie Mihojevich Pizzetta Annual Scholarship
($1,000) Kaitlyn Breland
Candidates must be full-time students; have completed their second-year in the School of Architecture; have a minimum 3.0 GPA; and can demonstrate financial need.
Charles H. Dean, Jr. Annual Memorial Scholarship
($1,000) Madison Holbrook
Any full-time MSU students in their third- through fifth-year of design studio may apply. Applicants must be Mississippi residents and can demonstrate financial need.
Erin Remerow Parsons Loyalty Scholarship
($1,000 each/year) Anna Criswell, Kailyn Gardner
Open to incoming freshman and transfer students majoring in the College of Architecture, Art & Design with a minimum 3.0 GPA; transfer students must have a minimum of 48 transferable community college credit hours.
Joseph L. Echols Scholars Program
($600) Markus Latimore
Candidates for the Joseph L. Echols Scholarship must: be a current undergraduate and underrepresented architecture student; show strong work ethic by maintaining a minimum 3.0 GPA; present a satisfactory work portfolio; demonstrate financial need.
Pryor & Morrow Annual Scholarship
($500 each) Kaitlyn Breland, Damion Hardy,
Madison Holbrook, Drew Maxon
Any full-time MSU students in their second- through fifth-year of design studio may apply. Students must be Mississippi residents and can demonstrate financial need.
Angelo “Pops” Primos Computer Scholarship
(software) Audria Hicks, Benjamin Hillerman,
Jeffery Janes, Markus Latimore, Jacob Lindley, Thomas Vo,
Savannah Wilson
Applicants must be full-time MSU students entering the second-year design studio in the School of Architecture; and can demonstrate financial need.
Johnson-McAdams Design Discovery Scholarships
($600) To Be Determined
Applicants must be from Leflore County, or be an under-represented minority group in architecture; and high school students interested in a career in architecture and related disciplines.
Joseph L. Echols D2 Scholarships (Design Discovery)
($600) To Be Determined
Candidate must: be a high school student who shows an interest in majoring in architecture by taking college preparatory math and science courses and demonstrating ability; show strong work ethic and satisfactory performance; be a minority student from the Marshall County area; demonstrate financial need.
Photos from the event can be viewed/downloaded here.
View/download the event program here.