As of 2020, the Schwabenbauer Award has been combined with the President's Award. It may be awarded either by review of nominations or at the pleasure of the CSLA President in recognition of a member's contribution to the CSLA.
Read the nomination guidelines for this award
Recipients of the Schwabenbauer President's Award
2023 - Heather Cram
Heather Cram is a senior principal with over 35 years of experience at HTFC. A pioneer in the ecological movement, her work ranges from detailed design and planning for museums and interpretive centres to urban design, community consultation and community planning. Heather approaches every project with fresh eyes, employing a unique mix of consultation skills and cultural resource management tools to guide her work. Whether planning the evolution of urban neighbourhoods such as the award-winning Wolseley Building Communities Initiative, or creating one-of-a-kind interpretive facilities such as the award-winning Rainy River Kay-Nah-Chi-Wah-Nung Historical Centre and National Historic Site, Heather works collaboratively with eclectic client groups to tell their stories with sensitivity, accuracy, creativity and exacting attention to detail.
Heather’s love for Winnipeg has led her from chairing the Manitoba/Winnipeg Fort Rouge Community Revitalization program and sitting on numerous business development zone boards to her recent work on the boards of the Winnipeg Arts Council, the Women’s Enterprise Centre and FortWhyte Alive. Heather became a Fellow of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects in 2009.
2022 - Jean Trottier
Jean Trottier is Associate Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Manitoba, where he teaches graduate and undergraduate urban design seminars and studios. Before dedicating himself fully to academia he practiced in both public and private sectors in Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta, specializing in resort planning and community design.
Jean chaired the Editorial Board of Landscapes | Paysages Magazine for almost ten years and has served on the Canadian Landscape Architecture Accreditation Council since 2016. He is also a long-time member of the Council for Canadian Urbanism, where he currently chairs the Board of Directors.
Community outreach has been integral to Jean’s career. He served two terms as Chair of Winnipeg’s Urban Design Advisory Committee and facilitated regional and national workshops to advance Canadian urban design practice. As part of his teaching activities, he led multiple design / build initiatives with non-profit organizations and small communities, for which he received the University of Manitoba’s Presidential Outreach Award.
A frequent media contributor, Jean advocates for an expanded urban design role for landscape architecture while challenging the profession’s ideological blinders. He likes a good intellectual jousting and -- as his students once observed – to “question everything.” That’s not about to change.
2020 - Eha Naylor (President's Award)
Eha Naylor earned her landscape architecture degree in 1980 from the University of Toronto and completed an MBA in 1989 from York University’s Schulich School of Business. She was the President of Envision the Hough Group until 2009 and became a leader in Dillon Consulting Limited’s national landscape architecture and community planning practice for the last 10 years of her 40-year career.
She has earned numerous awards recognizing her expertise in environmental and site design for both public and private sectors. In 2015, she was selected for the OALA Pinnacle Award for lifetime professional excellence. She’s known for finding solutions to complex, multidisciplinary planning and design assignments. Her skills include the integration of sustainable design measures and climate change adaptation as components of large infrastructure projects. She has practiced sustainable design and has expertise in climate change vulnerability assessment including work for the Parliamentary Precinct Branch on the federal lands in Ottawa and for climate change action plans in several municipalities.
Her skills include public engagement and facilitation to find consensus around complex environmental issues. She has taught and lectured on environmentally-based planning and sustainable community design at a number of universities. She is a full member of several professional associations including the Canadian Institute of Planners, Ontario Professional Planners, the American Society of Landscape Architects, Lambda Alpha and the Urban Land Institute.
2019 - James Thomas (President's Award)
Jim holds degrees in planning (Waterloo, 1977) and landscape architecture (Manitoba, 1983). He was accepted as a member of the Canadian Institute of Planners in 1985 and as a member of MALA and CSLA in 1990. He was inducted to the CSLA College of Fellows in 2013.
Jim is a former Principal, now Senior Advisor with HTFC Planning & Design based in Winnipeg. He has been leading regional, community and environmental planning projects for more than 35 years. Over this period, Jim has worked closely with Indigenous clients, earning long-term respect and trust, to negotiate and implement land claim agreements, and plan sustainable communities.
Jim is helping the CSLA to respond to the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission through his involvement with the CSLA’s Reconciliation Advisory Committee and the former Indigenous Issues Task Force. As a member of the CSLA’s Committee on Climate Adaptation Jim is helping to develop tools for landscape architects to respond and adapt to the effects of climate change.
Jim supports students and graduates in landscape architecture, as an advisor, mentor and teacher. For many years, he has volunteered his time to teach site analysis and site planning to landscape architecture students at the University of Manitoba. He established a fellowship in landscape planning that is awarded annually to a student in the University of Manitoba Master of Landscape Architecture program.
2018 - Chris Grosset (President's Award)
Chris Grosset is a partner at NVision InSight Group, an Indigenous Consulting firm based in Iqaluit and Ottawa that provides services to empower Inuit, First Nation and Métis communities and organizations. Chris has worked across northern Canada for almost two decades. His projects seek the respectful integration of landscape architecture with local Indigenous principles in community development, land use, and protected or sacred areas. He is also a part-time instructor of community planning at Nunavut Sivuniksavut in Ottawa, a post-secondary program providing Inuit youth with academic learning in their cultural context. Chris is a Fellow of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects, the President of the Nunavut Association of Landscape Architects, and a member of the Canadian Association of Heritage Professionals. He served on the CSLA Board of Directors for seven years; Chaired the 2011 CSLA Congress in Iqaluit Nunavut; and is currently on the Nomination Jury for the College of Fellows. Since 2016, he has been the Chair of the CSLA Indigenous Issues Task Force, mandated “to guide the CSLA in improving awareness and capacity for supporting Canada’s First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples”. Chris believes that landscape architecture, and every landscape architect, can contribute to Reconciliation with Indigenous people.
2017 - Virginia Burt (President's Award)
Virginia Burt, Principal of Virginia Burt Designs Inc., specializes in healing landscapes and gardens, labyrinths, and sacred spaces for private residential, educational and health care clients. Her work has achieved international recognition for master planning, private gardens and public health care projects, receiving multiple national awards from the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA) and others. Virginia is one of seven women in the world elected to Fellowship in both the ASLA and CSLA for her outstanding contributions to society at large and the profession of landscape architecture.
The importance of healing environments was relatively unknown in 1996 when Virginia opened the doors of her own firm, Virginia Burt Designs. She developed a holistic approach that attends to our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects while weaving the meaning of landscapes, genius loci, stakeholder input into evidence-based design.
Recognizing her passion through this experience, Virginia intensifies ways of working with organizations and public clients to address the diverse needs of the population they serve. In relation to her project work, Virginia provides artisanal service attending to the craft of landscape architecture with attention to detail, how things are made and a passion for plants.
2016 - Colleen Mercer Clarke (President's Award)
Colleen is an interdisciplinary scientist specializing in advancing community resilience to a changing climate. With over 40 years experience in the consulting and research sectors in Canada, and internationally, Colleen’s career has focused on the sustainable development of resources and communities through stewardship and ecosystem-based approaches to the conservation of natural and cultural resources. Trained first as an aquatic/marine ecologist and landscape architect, her portfolio of projects ranged in scale from international and national coastal management initiatives, environmental audit and impact assessment, through watershed, regional and municipal planning initiatives, detailed site design and environmental management. Colleen now works as a member of national and international community-university alliances and other interdisciplinary teams focussed on aiding adaptation to a changing climate in communities in Canada and the Caribbean, and on the effective transfer of knowledge from science to decision-making. In 2012 she was appointed to the National Advisory Committee on coastal assessment at the Climate Change Directorate of Natural Resources Canada, and served as one of the primary authors for the 2016 science-based assessment of adaptation along Canada’s marine coasts. Colleen is a Fellow of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects, a Past President and member of the Board of the CSLA, and a Past President of the Atlantic Provinces Association of Landscape Architects. She has recently been accepted as a Member for the Commission on Ecosystem Management of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Currently, Colleen chairs both the CSLA’s Committee on Climate Adaptation and the Working Group on Climate Change of the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA). Robert Norman and Colleen Mercer Clarke (Photo: J. Landry)
2016 - Faye Langmaid (Schwabenbauer Award)
The majority of Faye Langmaid’s landscape architecture and planning career has been in municipal public practice. Faye’s service to the CSLA began with involvement as part of the organizing committee for the first Congress held in Saskatchewan (1985). Faye was recruited to assist with revitalizing the CSLA Awards of Excellence in the late 1980’s and chaired the awards process for three years. From 1998 to 2004 Faye served as a juror for the grants program of the Landscape Architecture Canada Foundation (LACF).
Faye has chaired the Grants Committee of the LACF since 2004 and serves as a Board Director. Faye deftly manages the annual grant application process, oversees the adjudication of proposals, assists with promotional materials while shepherding proposals to finished products to help expand the knowledge and breadth of the profession.
Projects under Faye’s stewardship have been recipients of Awards of Excellence from the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects, the Canadian Institute of Planners, the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association Award of Excellence for Innovation and Top Honour Award from the International Waterfront Center. Faye has served a five-year term on the Ontario Parks Foundation and helped establish the Little River Enhancement Group, Canada’s South Land Trust and Jury Lands Foundation; groups dedicated to the long view of stewardship. Faye also serves on the Port Hope Parks, Recreation and Culture Advisory Committee. In 2000 Faye was inducted into the College of Fellows for executed works, direct service to the society and service to the community or public.
Robert Norman & Faye Langmaid (Photo: Jean Landry)
2015 - Alexander Topps (President's Award)
Alexander Topps is a fellow of the CSLA and an Emeritus Member of the OALA. He graduated from the University of Toronto with a finance degree in 1970 and after a brief business career returned to enroll in the Landscape Architecture program. After graduating with a BLA in 1974, and being awarded the CSLA Certificate of Merit, he joined the emerging practice of Frank Milus and Associates as the firm's third full-time employee. The business grew rapidly and by 1976 Alexander became a founding partner of the firm known today as the MBTW Group — an award-winning multi-disciplinary Landscape Architecture and Urban Design practice located in Toronto. Alexander’s early career focused on environmental planning but rapidly evolved to become more design-focussed, building an award-winning portfolio of built works in the fields of open space, community planning, and urban design. In the late 1970’s Alexander was one of the first Landscape Architects to establish a practice as an expert witness. His successful testimony across a broad spectrum of issues, including urban design, recreation planning, environmental planning, site plan suitability, and construction litigation helped build the credibility of the profession before a variety of regulatory tribunals and civil courts. Throughout his career Alexander has been an active OALA volunteer, serving on the Examining Board in the early 1990's, and later as a member of the Budget and Disciplinary Committees. In 2002, he was selected to represent the Association as a member of a multi-industry delegation that achieved important amendments to the provincial Limitation of Liability Act. Throughout the 2007 – 2008 period, he served on the Faculty Council of the Daniels School of Design. As an early volunteer on the OALA’s Practice Act committee, he initiated the first economic impact analysis of the landscape architecture profession in Ontario. Since retiring from active practice in 2009, Alexander has devoted much of his volunteer activity to the Landscape Architecture Accreditation Council, acting as Chair from 2013 – 2016, during which time he led an important initiative to revitalize the Council and align the CSLA and ASLA accreditation standards.
Photo: Robert Norman, Alex Topps and Carol Craig (Photo: J. Landry)
2015 - Jane Durante (Schwabenbauer Award)
With over forty years of experience, Jane Durante has a broad based practice. She has had the opportunity to provide consultant services for a diverse body of work including, at the larger scale, planning projects, street beautification, urban parks and plazas. Her portfolio includes university campuses, office and commercial buildings, multi-family housing, private residential projects, and public art consultation. She has worked in a variety of locations throughout British Columbia, as well as in Indonesia and China.
As an active member of the design community, Jane has sat on design panels in Vancouver and Ottawa. As a long time resident of Victoria, Vancouver and the Gulf Islands, her depth and understanding of local issues is extensive.
Currently, Jane collaborates with Durante Kreuk on various projects, mentors junior staff, facilitates public art projects, and on occasion provides evaluation on student work at the School of Landscape Architecture at UBC.
Robert Norman, Jane Durante and Carol Craig (Photo: J. Landry)
2014 - Gordon Smith (President's Award)
Gordon Smith has had the pleasure of engaging in private and public practice for over 28 years in Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, and Botswana, Africa.
Gordon perceives design and planning as a process to work within communities of interest to arrive at meaningful, practical, and elegant solutions. Through the arc of his practice, he has explored the application of theory into his everyday work at constantly increasing scales, starting his career with the construction of residential gardens and moving up to the province-wide policy work that he currently undertakes as the Director of Planning for the Province of Nova Scotia. Award-winning planning and design projects that he has led include the Town of Riverview Urban Design and Built Form Guidelines, the Dartmouth Common Master Plan, the Sydney Port to Port Strategic Plan, the Grand Parade/Province House (Halifax City Hall and Nova Scotia Legislature) Joint Public Lands Plan, the Blueprint for a Bicycle Friendly Halifax Regional Municipality, and the Central District Integrated Land Use Plan in Botswana, Africa.
Gordon is particularly proud of his work with the CSLA Executive Director, the CSLA and APALA Boards, and other volunteers to help people better understand what the profession of landscape architecture can offer to society. Capstones in these efforts have been his role in enabling the CSLA to award the inaugural Governor General’s Medal in Landscape Architecture in 2016 and his involvement in helping with the establishment of a Bachelor of Technology in Landscape Architecture program and the ongoing development of a Masters program at Dalhousie University.
Gordon Smith receiving the President's Award from Peter Briggs (Photo: J. Landry)
2013 - Linda A. Irvine (President's Award)
Linda Irvine received a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (with Distinction) from the University of Guelph in 1978 and a Master of Landscape Architecture from Harvard University in 1982. She was accepted as a member of OALA and CSLA in 1985.
She has been active in the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects (OALA) for over 20 years, serving in the capacities of Appointed Educator, Secretary, Vice-President, and President. During her service to the OALA, Linda was instrumental in affecting critical changes to OALA’s membership entrance requirements as well as, successfully defending a challenge to OALA’s by-laws in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. Linda has also served on the CSLA Board of Directors as President-Elect, President and Past-President and has contributed significantly to the Society in many ways, including overseeing the development of a proposed Full Member Reciprocity Agreement which would facilitate labour mobility between regulated and non-regulated Component Associations of the CSLA.
For the past 14 years, Ms Irvine has held the position of Manager, Parks and Open Space Development for the City of Markham where she is responsible for overseeing, managing, and coordinating all new park development, as well as, managing selected urban design projects for the municipality. Prior to joining Markham, Linda was a faculty member in landscape architecture at the University of Toronto, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and the University of Guelph, and specialized in teaching both graduate and undergraduate design studios and graphic communications courses.
Linda has been elected to Fellowship in the categories of: Administrative Professional Work in Public Agencies; Professional University Instructions; and, Direct Service to the Society. We are very pleased to recognize Linda Irvine’s outstanding contributions to the landscape architectural profession over the past 25 years and welcome her into the College of Fellows.
Linda Irvine receiving the President's Award from Claude Potvin (Photo: J. Landry)
2012 - Gordon Smith (Schwabenbauer Award)
Gordon Smith has had the pleasure of engaging in private and public practice for over 28 years in Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, and Botswana, Africa.
Gordon perceives design and planning as a process to work within communities of interest to arrive at meaningful, practical, and elegant solutions. Through the arc of his practice, he has explored the application of theory into his everyday work at constantly increasing scales, starting his career with the construction of residential gardens and moving up to the province-wide policy work that he currently undertakes as the Director of Planning for the Province of Nova Scotia. Award-winning planning and design projects that he has led include the Town of Riverview Urban Design and Built Form Guidelines, the Dartmouth Common Master Plan, the Sydney Port to Port Strategic Plan, the Grand Parade/Province House (Halifax City Hall and Nova Scotia Legislature) Joint Public Lands Plan, the Blueprint for a Bicycle Friendly Halifax Regional Municipality, and the Central District Integrated Land Use Plan in Botswana, Africa.
Gordon is particularly proud of his work with the CSLA Executive Director, the CSLA and APALA Boards, and other volunteers to help people better understand what the profession of landscape architecture can offer to society. Capstones in these efforts have been his role in enabling the CSLA to award the inaugural Governor General’s Medal in Landscape Architecture in 2016 and his involvement in helping with the establishment of a Bachelor of Technology in Landscape Architecture program and the ongoing development of a Masters program at Dalhousie University.
Claude Potvin, Gordon Smith and Liane McKenna at the 2012 CSLA Congress in Halifax. (Photo: J. Landry)
2012 - Arnis Budrevics (President's Award)
Mr. Arnis Budrevics graduated from the University of Toronto BLA Program in 1979. During his twenty year membership with the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects, he has been active in both the AALA and the OALA.
Arnis initiated the creation of the CSLA National Awards Program. This program has promoted our profession by showcasing the work of Canadian landscape architects and bringing talented, young professionals to national attention.
Arnis is a champion of fiscal responsibility. He has raised awareness about critical budget issues and the importance of proxy voting at both the national and the provincial levels of our profession. He was a key figure in the formation of the OALA Budget Committee, which has been critical to improving the financial management of OALA. He was elected to the OALA Council for two consecutive terms, served as Treasurer and continues to serve on the budget committee.
Arnis is also a member of the OALA task force reviewing the entry-level requirements for new members. His business sense and desire to encourage qualified people to enter the profession have greatly benefited this committee.
Since 1989, Arnis has owned, managed, and served as the Principal Landscape Architect for Alexander Budrevics & Associates Ltd., a well-respected firm in the landscape development industry for two generations. It is a pleasure, indeed, to invite Arnis Budrevics at this time to join the CSLA College of Fellows.
Claude Potvin, Arnis Budrevics and Liane McKenna (Photo: J. Landry)
2011 - Christopher Grosset (Schwabenbauer Award)
Christopher Grosset is a partner and senior consultant with NVision Insight Group (formerly Aarluk Consulting), an Indigenous Consulting firm based in Ottawa and Iqaluit. His practice is to document cultural landscapes and integrate Indigenous traditional knowledge with contemporary planning for protected areas and heritage sites. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto in 1993 and a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Guelph in 2000.
Christopher is a founding member of the Nunavut Association of Landscape Architects (2002), the current NUALA President, and was accepted to the CSLA in 2003. From 2005 through 2011 he was a CSLA Director, working on various committees including Advocacy and Communications. Christopher was the Chair of the CSLA Awards of Recognition program in 2008 and 2009, and has served on the CSLA World Landscape Architecture committee from its founding in 2008 until 2013.
Christopher was Chair of the CSLA 2011 Congress in Iqaluit, Nunavut, and received the CSLA Schwabenbauer Award that year. He was elected to the College of Fellows in 2014. Since 2016 he has Chaired the CSLA Indigenous Task Force, mandated “to guide the CSLA in improving awareness and capacity for supporting Canada’s First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples”. Christopher was awarded the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects Presidents Award in 2018 for his work to further the profession on Indigenous awareness. NVision received a 2018 CSLA Award of Excellence in large scale planning and analysis for the Kinngaaluk Territorial Park Master Plan. Christopher is a regular contributor to Landscapes/Paysages.
2011 - Sara Jane Greutzner, Peter Klynstra (President's Award)
Sara Jane Greutzner
Ms. Sara-Jane Gruetzner graduated from the University of Guelph with a BLA in 1976. She was accepted as a member of the AALA and CSLA in 1994 and became AALA President for 1997/98. Sara represented AALA on the CSLA Board of Govenors from 1999/01, where she also chaired the CSLA Governance Committee. She served as CSLA President from 2006-2007, when CSLA went to Cuba!
Sara has been active in numerous volunteer positions, including the Calgary Chamber of Voluntary Organizations, Calgary Winterfest, Air Canada’s Dreams Take Flight and the Old Forts Trail Association. In 1995 she became the recipient of the Calgary YWCA Women of Distinction Award.
Sara’s career began in 1976 with Parks Canada, Atlantic Region, in Halifax, where she worked on a variety of national historic park projects. After transferring to Rocky Harbour, Newfoundland, she worked as a member of the Gros Morne National Park planning team. This experience defined the rest of her career and taught her the importance of planning with people, local knowledge, local resource management and the power of landscape and place.
Sara’s Alberta experience includes the planning and implementation of urban river valley park projects in 7 Alberta cities, as well as project managing the CSLA award winning Calgary Urban Park Master Plan. Following a 3 year term in Calgary’s Executive Office, Sara became the CEO of Fort Calgary in 2000. This position combines her passion for and experience with the celebration of Canada’s cultural landscapes. Sara retired from Fort Calgary in 2016.
Peter Klynstra
Klynstra spent more than 20 years as a design professor in Environmental Planning at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and then at Dalhousie University during which time he mentored many students. In his over 40 years of practice as a landscape architect, Peter Klynstra was involved in major projects relating to waterfront planning, institutional land planning and development research. In addition to his innovative design talents, Klynstra was highly sought after for his expertise in community consultation and was a strong advocate for the voice of the community in planning projects. He was a member of the National Capital Commission’s Design Advisory Committee from 1994-1996, and was a Fellow of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects. But perhaps he is best known for his energy and enthusiasm to help on projects large or small with his limitless stream of ideas and encouragement. In 2011 the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects bestowed its President’s Award upon Klynstra in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the profession.
2010 - Jerry W. Belan, Margery Winkler (President's Award)
2010 - Jim Melvin (Schwabenbauer Award)
James H. Melvin's education includes an Hon. B.A. Degree from York University (1975) and an MLA Degree from the University of Manitoba (1979). He has been a member of CSLA, OALA and MALA since 1983 and served as CSLA President in 1993-94. Jim participated on and chaired OALA committees continuously since 1982. Of special significance to our profession has been Jim's Involvement as the OALA representative with the Canadian National Exhibition Association, of which he has been a member since 1981. In 1988 he was elected Editor and since 1996 he has served as Vice President of this Canadian cultural institution. Jim authored the 1980 C.M.H.C. publication Play Spam to Accommodate Disabled Children Since 1982. He has been a founding member of the firm PMA Landscape Architects Ltd. in Etobicoke and has been responsible for many projects of major Open space development, urban infill Parks, condominium design and residential design. These include the award winning village of Sherwood, major community parks of Fallingbrook and Lisgar Fields in Mississauga, the award winning urban Plaza and Fountain at Mississauga Executive Centre and the World Heritage Centre in Durham, England.
Jim has been a guest critic at the University of Guelph. University of Toronto and Ryerson Polytechnic University since 1988. For the past six years he has taught professional practice and design studio at Ryerson and assisted in the site engineering course at the University of Toronto.
2009 - Gérald Lajeunesse, Ronald Middleton (President's Award)
Gérald Lajeunesse
Gerald Lajeunesse holds a BSc. degree in Biochemistry from Carleton University received in 1970, and a BLA degree from the University of Montreal, obtained in 1970. He is currently working on his MBA degree at the University of Ottawa. Being fully bilingual, Gerry has been an AAPQ and CSLA member since 1989 and an OALA member since 1985. He has been playing a strong role within the professional associations. both AAPQ and OALA, throughout his career, often serving in an executive capacity, as committee chair, or directing a task force. Most recently, he has been co-chair of the planning committee, organizing the CSLA Congress 2000 in Ottawa.
Gerry has been a staff member of the National Capital Commission since 1977 and its Chief Landscape Architect since 1989. He also held the position of Manager and Project Director for the Confederation Boulevard Project, since 1988. Under his leadership a great number of superb landscape architectural and urban design projects were conceived and carried out. Gerry’s ability to build consensus and steer the collective contributions of many agencies and interdisciplinary consult teams have earned him much respect from the almost infinite number of stakeholders' involved In these highly visible and sensitive projects. During the last few years, Gerry had to face the new tasks of managing the 'downsizing'' process typical of all government departments. He met all these challenges in an exemplary fashion, combining professional rigour with personal diplomacy and wisdom.
Ronald Middleton
Ron holds a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree from University of Toronto and a Master of Science (Plant Science) from the University of Alberta. He has served as President of the Alberta Association of Landscape Architects and of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects and was Chair of the Accreditation Council of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects for over ten years. He is Chair of the Discipline Committee of the Alberta Association of Landscape Architects and serves on the association’s Registration Committee. He served on the board of the Landscape Architecture Canada Foundation and the editorial board of the magazine Landscapes/Paysages. He has also been involved with the Canadian Land Reclamation Association, Canadian Water Resources Association, and the International Association for Public Participation.
He worked in several departments of the Government of Alberta leading multi-disciplinary teams conducting environmental impact assessment, public consultation, and mitigation for large scale water management and transportation projects. He retired from the position of Director of Environmental Management Services with Alberta Transportation in 2010 and started Mei • Environmental Consulting and continued to provide leadership and advice for large scale projects.
He was a Sessional Lecturer in Landscape Planning and Design at the University of Alberta for ten years and has also taught numerous courses for the University of Alberta Devonian Botanic Garden. He was a guest professor at Xihua University in Chengdu, China, advising on the formation of a new Landscape Architecture Program. He was on the Advisory Board for the Landscape Technology program at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology and has led accreditation teams for that program.
He has published articles in several journals and magazines, including the Journal of the Canadian Water Resources Association and the Journal of the International Association for Land Reclamation, River Research and Applications, and Landscapes/Paysages. He has presented papers at numerous conferences and workshops.
He has received the Premier’s Award of Excellence on three occasions. Other awards include: the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects President’s Award of Excellence, The Alberta Association of Landscape Architects Wild Rose Award, and the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects Schwabenbauer Award.
2009 - Cecelia Paine (Schwabenbauer Award)
Cecelia began her career in Chicago upon graduating with a B.L.A. from the University of Illinois in 1972. After a traveling fellowship in Europe, she moved to Ottawa to work with D.W. Graham and later, the National Capital Commission. She earned an M.L.A. degree from the University of Michigan in 1980 and soon opened her own firm, specializing in design of the public realm and heritage landscape conservation. Award-winning works include revitalization of Sparks Street Mall, restoration of Mackenzie King Estate and long-range plans for sectors of the National Capital Greenbelt.
In 1990, Cecelia was appointed to the faculty of the University of Guelph. Over the next 28 years she taught design and professional practice in Guelph’s B.L.A. and M.L.A. programs. She has been invited to teach and share her research with students and professionals in Venezuela, Costa Rica, Brazil, Argentina, and China. Cecelia served the university as Associate Dean of Graduate Studies from 2006 to 2014. Her academic accomplishments have been recognized by CELA, the University of Guelph Faculty Association and CSLA.
A fellow of CSLA and ASLA, Cecelia has served the profession in numerous capacities, including as president of OALA, CSLA and LACF. She is most proud of her contributions to establishment of the Landscape Architecture Canada Foundation and Landscapes Paysages. Cecelia has volunteered as a member of Heritage Guelph and participated in numerous municipal design juries. She is currently serving on the boards of LACF and the NCC Advisory Committee on Planning, Design and Real Estate.
2008 - James Taylor (Schwabenbauer Award)
James Taylor is Professor Emeritus in Landscape Architecture at the University of Guelph in Canada. He holds degrees from Iowa State University (1964) and University of California at Berkeley (1964). In the 1960s Jim was greatly influenced by Lawrence Halprin and Robert Royston while studying and working in the San Francisco Bay Area. He joined Cameron Man in practice in Winnipeg in 1967 and later established the office of Lombard North Group in Calgary. The award-winning firm was responsible for the planning and development of Fish Creek Provincial Park and other significant design and environmental planning projects in Western Canada.
Taylor was active in the profession serving as president of the CSLA from 1978-80. He joined the faculty of Landscape Architecture at the University of Guelph in 1984 and was Chair from 1993-99.
He is a fellow of the CSLA, the ASLA and CELA. Jim has been active internationally as a member of the IFLA Executive Committee and as chair of a task force for developing the IFLA African Region remains active in capacity building programmes in Africa and Latin America. In 2008, Jim was recipient of the ASLA Presidents Medal for his contribution to the profession in Africa and Latin America. His book, The Practice of Landscape Architecture in Canada, is widely used as a resource for students and practitioners. He currently is active as a volunteer in his community including as founder and current president of Trees for Guelph.
2008 - Cathy Sears, Liane McKenna, Wendy Graham, Judy Lord (President's Award)
Cathy Sears
Cathy Sears obtained a BSc from the University of Alberta 1979 and a BLA from the Uni- versity of British Columbia 1985. She became a member of the AALA and CSLA in 1991. Beginning with her service as AALA Director in 1993, Cathy has actively, and creatively, contributed to her profession.
As AALA President (2001- 2002), Cathy coordinated the 2003 International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) World Congress. Her extraordinary efforts made this one of the most successful conferences in CSLA history. As CSLA Director (2003 – 2008), Cathy led the first CSLA Presidents’ Round Table, directed the modernization of the organization’s governing bylaws and created a Board Manual that continues to guide the national organiza- tion. As CSLA President (2008-2009) Cathy led major initiatives during a challenging period of transition, including recruitment of a new Executive Director. Under Cathy’s progressive leadership the partnership for the National Urban Design Awards was officially sealed, the Accreditation Council succession completed and vital initiatives including LA CES, reciprocity, and member program enhancements gained substantial ground. Her term culminated in CSLA’s 75th Anniversary legacy celebration.
Cathy is currently Stantec’s Practice Area for Landscape Architecture overseeing offices through North America. She is widely respected for promoting collaboration, professional growth and development of the practice. Cathy has led several award-winning design teams earning two CSLA National Award recognitions and a National Urban Design Award Certificate of Merit.
Liane McKenna
Ms Liane McKenna graduated from the University of Guelph in 1973 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Landscape Architecture and the University of Victoria in 1998 with a Master of Arts Degree in Leisure Services Administration. She has been a member in the OALA, the AALA and most currently in 2003 BCSLA representing BCSLA on the CSLA Board from 2004 – 2008 .She was the Co Chair of the successful 2006 CSLA/CELA Conference in Vancouver, BC. She is a current member of the Accreditation Council and steered a project for the CSLA and the Landscape Architecture Canada Foundation in 2006 entitled “Strategy for Growth of the Landscape Architecture Profession”. The membership elected her as CSLA President Elect in 2010 and she will begin her role as President at our Congress in Iqaluit.
Throughout her more than 30 year career, Liane McKenna focused on public practice, specifically Municipal Parks and Recreation. During the last 16 years she was Director of Parks and Recreation with the Vancouver Park Board, having previously worked for the cities of Calgary, Alberta and Scarborough, Ontario in similar capacities. Interests in environmental issues on public lands, expansion of park programming, and recent 2010 Winter Olympic community and facility development rounded out her career. Now retired she has moved to consulting practice.
Wendy Graham
Wendy Graham was introduced to the profession of landscape architecture at an early age by her practitioner father, Donald W. Graham. After several years of post secondary education at Guelph University, she moved to Montreal and in 1980 graduated (in French) from the school of Landscape Architecture, University of Montreal.
Wendy has since been an active member of the AAPQ serving briefly on the admissions committee and consistently in the realm of communication (Archi Pays, l’Annuel de Paysage + Landscapes| Paysages). Giving back to the community has been a guiding principle in both her professional and personal practice. As an active member of the town of Mount Royal heritage committee, she co-founded and directed a series of walking tours aimed at fostering a greater public appreciation the town’s unique landscape character (town plan by Frederick Gage Todd) and participated in a successful effort to have TMR recognized as a national heri- tage site. She received the CSLA president’s award (2008) in recognition of her work on LP magazine where she is currently volunteer design consultant, member of the editorial board and occasional guest editor.
As landscape architect for the city of Montreal since 1982, Wendy has collaborated on complex and diverse projects including: a Master plan for Montreal botanical gardens, McGill College Avenue, Chinatown revitalization plan, Montreal’s Chinese Garden, and numerous planning + design projects for Mount Royal park and the surrounding area (with col- league Daniel Chartier). She was also project coordinator for Montreal Garden in Shanghai (+Claude Cormier) and the Beaver Lake, Mount Royal park artificial ice rink (+Groupe Cardinal Hardy). Many of her works have received national and regional recognition over the years.
2007 - Alan Tate (Schwabenbauer Award)
Alan Tate has a degree in Town and Country Planning and an accredited Diploma in Landscape Design from the University of Manchester, England and a PhD in Architecture from Edinburgh College of Art, Scotland. He has over twenty years of professional experience and is a Fellow and Past President of the UK Landscape Institute.
Following five years’ experience in local government and private practice in Nottingham and London, he spent nine years running the Clouston landscape consultancy in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia before returning to Europe to lead the landscape design team for Disneyland Paris. Alan then spent nine years based in London, running Clifton Design followed by his own private practice before moving to Canada in 1998 to take up a teaching position at the University of Manitoba. Alan was promoted to the position of Professor in 2007 and was Head of Department from 2000 to 2005, from 2011 to 2013, and again from 2014-19.
He is a member of the Manitoba Association of Landscape Architects. He has organized the CSLA Awards Program since 2001. The second edition of his book Great City Parks (2015) won a UK Landscape Institute Award in the Policy and Research category.
2006 - Ron Middleton (Schwabenbauer Award)
Ron holds a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree from University of Toronto and a Master of Science (Plant Science) from the University of Alberta. He has served as President of the Alberta Association of Landscape Architects and of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects and was Chair of the Accreditation Council of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects for over ten years. He is Chair of the Discipline Committee of the Alberta Association of Landscape Architects and serves on the association’s Registration Committee. He served on the board of the Landscape Architecture Canada Foundation and the editorial board of the magazine Landscapes/Paysages. He has also been involved with the Canadian Land Reclamation Association, Canadian Water Resources Association, and the International Association for Public Participation.
He worked in several departments of the Government of Alberta leading multi-disciplinary teams conducting environmental impact assessment, public consultation, and mitigation for large scale water management and transportation projects. He retired from the position of Director of Environmental Management Services with Alberta Transportation in 2010 and started Mei • Environmental Consulting and continued to provide leadership and advice for large scale projects.
He was a Sessional Lecturer in Landscape Planning and Design at the University of Alberta for ten years and has also taught numerous courses for the University of Alberta Devonian Botanic Garden. He was a guest professor at Xihua University in Chengdu, China, advising on the formation of a new Landscape Architecture Program. He was on the Advisory Board for the Landscape Technology program at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology and has led accreditation teams for that program.
He has published articles in several journals and magazines, including the Journal of the Canadian Water Resources Association and the Journal of the International Association for Land Reclamation, River Research and Applications, and Landscapes/Paysages. He has presented papers at numerous conferences and workshops.
He has received the Premier’s Award of Excellence on three occasions. Other awards include: the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects President’s Award of Excellence, The Alberta Association of Landscape Architects Wild Rose Award, and the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects Schwabenbauer Award.
2005 - Gunter Schoch (Schwabenbauer Award)
As a 12-years old living in Berlin, Gunter Schoch knew that he wanted to become a forester. But just a few years later, in the final years of the Second World War, Gunter was drafted. He was 17, and after hostilities ended, the fragmentation of his city and his country made forestry impossible. Gunter instead studied horticulture and then landscape architecture, graduating in 1950.
Schoch was hired by the City of Berlin Parks Department as West Berlin focused on rebuilding its devastated parks system. It was an exciting time, Schoch remembered, but in three years, Schoch and his family immigrated to Canada, arriving in Winnipeg during a prairie winter.
Schoch was the first professionally trained landscape architect to settle in the city. The first years were not easy: he began once again working in greenhouses and landscape gardening. But by 1955, he had joined Winnipeg Parks and Recreation; in seven more years he became city landscape architect, and in 1980, he was made director of planning and development, a position he held until his retirement in 1989.
Many of Winnipeg’s public spaces bear the hallmarks of Schoch’s design. In the sixties, landscape architecture became an intrinsic part of the city planning. Schoch initiated aesthetic treatments for modern street interchanges (St. Vital and St. James), and superintended so many street improvements that the American Institute of Landscape Architects applauded Schock as “The Man of Streetscapes” (October 1972). In 1973, he was named a Fellow of the ASLA.
Regional parks, too, saw massive growth. Schoch and the director of Assiniboine Park Zoo redeveloped the zoo to create what Schoch called “a real zoological park”, a completely pedestrian environment that vastly improved conditions for both animals and visitors. Schoch designed the City’s busiest golf course (Crescent Drive Park), and worked to develop year-round park amenities throughout the city, designing the much-loved pond beside the Peguis Pavilion in Kildonan Park which becomes a skating pond in winter. For North Kildonan where he lived, Schoch also chaired the rural municipal parks board (1963-65), then later served as municipal arborist (1967-74). His model street tree program is in full maturity today.
Schoch served the Manitoba Parks and Recreation Association (President, 1975/76), as well as Manitoba’s Environmental Council and the planning committee for the International Peace Garden. His dedication to LA professional organizations was extraordinary. He was a charter member of the Manitoba Association of Landscape Architects, its first Executive Director (1989-96), and its treasurer for 20 years. He was treasurer too for the Landscape Architecture Canada Foundation and secretary-treasurer for the College of Fellows (1992-2008).
A dedicated genealogist, he researched family records to the 13th century, and his interest in LA history is annually recognized by the MALA/ LACF Günter A. Schoch Bursary, which promotes professional research.
2004 - Cecelia Paine, Carey Vollick (President's Award)
Mr. Cary C. Vollick received his Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree from the University of Toronto in 1977 and became a member of APALA and CSLA in 1978. He has served APALA as Secretary-Treasurer and twice as President in 1982-83 and 1995-97. He has represented APALA on the CSLA Board of Governors and was the organizing co-chair of two CSLA Congresses in 1979 and 1987. Cary has advocated the enactment of provincial legislation and amendments to municipal by-laws and has served on numerous municipal, provincial and national committees and boards. For his unequaled efforts and successes in winning recognition for landscape architects, he has received the CSLA Service Award in 1995.
Since 1984, Cary has been Senior Landscape Architect with Reinhart L. Petersmann Landscape Architects Ltd., the oldest landscape architectural firm in Atlantic Canada. His projects include downtown and waterfront improvements in Halifax, Sydney, Saint John, Fredericton and St. John’s. He has done master planning and site design for seven hospitals including the new Cape Breton Regional Hospital. He designed the Grandville Mall plaza in Halifax for the 1995 G-7 Conference and has recently completed the Nova Scotia Visitor Welcome Centre complex on the Trans Canada Highway at the provincial boundary. It is estimated that he has designed the site layout and grading plans for well over $1 billion of capital construction projects.
2001 - Don Barron (President's Award)
Donald B. Barron received the B.L.A. (Honours) degree from the Utah State University in 1972 and is a Member of the Alberta Association of Landscape Architects and the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects since 1975. He received the AALA Distinguished Service Award in 1984 and was elected as AALA President in 1990. From 1991-92, he served on the CSLA Board of Governors as AALA representative.
Don Barron has provided professional consulting services within a wide range of project types and through a diverse variety of regional, social and environmental characteristics. His input has been requested, at various levels of scale and intensity, by private corporations, government agencies and other consultant groups associated with the natural and built environments. Although his major area of endeavour has been within Western Canada and the Territories, he has participated on projects that were located in the High Arctic, the United States, South America and the Caribbean.
As Senior Landscape Architect for Alberta Recreation and Parks in the early 1970's, Don was responsible for the Landscape Architecture Section which provided Development Master Planning and Facility Design throughout the Province. Don Barron has been President and General Manager of the firm since its inception in 1973. He participates as Principal-In Charge of all the company's projects and is actively engaged in all phases of the work. Don has successfully managed numerous types of studies including Environmental Planning, Parks Master Planning, Tourism Planning, Landscape Architectural Planning and Design, Golf Course Design, Aesthetic Evaluation, Irrigation and Reclamation Planning projects. He is responsible for direct client liaison and organization of the projects on a day-to-day basis.
1997 - Georges Daudelin (President's Award)
1995 - Vincent Asselin, Douglas Clark, Hugh Knowles, Lawrence Paterson (President's Award)
Vincent Asselin
Mr. Asselin is a graduate of the Université de Montréal (Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, 1978; Master’s in applied sciences – Landscape Architecture, 1995). He is a founding member of WAA Inc. (Montreal), WAA International, Ltd. (Shanghai) and WAA Design Sdn. Bhd. in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
A registered member of AAPQ since 1980, Mr. Asselin has been involved for many years in the AAPQ as well as in CSLA, having served as president of both organizations. In 1993 Mr. Asselin was invested as Fellow of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (FCSLA), he has made ample contributions as a member of numerous AAPQ and CSLA committees and task forces. After serving as Vice-President for many years, Mr. Asselin was elected President of the LACF-FAPC (Landscape Architecture Canada Foundation) in June 2015. He also presently serves as “international expert in urban planning and landscape architecture” for the Shanghai Science and Technology Committee (STC). Mr. Asselin and his firm have received many outstanding awards for projects such as The Beach Park in Montréal (Plage Jean Doré), Yan’an Zhong Lu Park in Shanghai, Xujiahui Park in Shanghai, Le Jardin des Premières Nations in Montréal and la Promenade Samuel-de-Champlain in Québec which received the National Honour Awards from the CSLA. In addition, Mr. Asselin was actively involved as a guest speaker, Professeur Invité and studio instructor at the Université de Montréal, École d’architecture de paysage from 1980 to 2005.
Mr. Asselin received the Magnolia Silver Medal Award for “extraordinary contribution to the City of Shanghai”. More recently, in June of 2012, he was honoured by the Premier of Québec with the prestigious title of “Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Québec”. This honour is the highest award the Québec Government can bestow.
Douglas Clark
Douglas has executed many works that reveal his individuality and mastery of the art of landscape architecture. These works cover a wide range of development scales. In 1983, Douglas was Awarded the CSLA Regional Citation for his Cypress Hills Provincial Park research project.
Mr. Clark's professional outreach activities have been of a diverse and extremely valuable nature to the many groups which he has helped. Significant among his activities was his association with the North Saskatchewan Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. As Co-President from 1985 to 1987, Mr. Clark had the opportunity to display the organizational skills of a professional landscape architect to Canada's health care and social systems. Through his inspirational efforts, this Association was able to raise significant research monie, Mr. Clark's outreach led him to meet on numerous occasions with important officials and Canadians including their National President, the Honorable Mrs Mila Mulrooney. Through his efforts, Douglas inadvertently or not, has portrayed a landscape architect as a professional person with a broad knowledge and a caring heart.
As a teacher, Mr. Clark has lectured as a guest in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Manitoba, and has served as a staff member at the University of Saskatchewan, lecturing on Graphic Design, Urban Design and Urban Planning. He has consistently over the years been involved in numerous committees at both Departmental and Faculty levels. Mr. Clark has presented learned papers to any groups including the Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association, the Saskatchewan Real Estate Society and the Heritage Society. Mr. Clark has clearly demonstrated through his Professional University and Public Lectures his influence and contribution to the advancement of the profession, to students, the profession, the public and other societies.
Mr. Clark has published articles on Landscape Architecture in Landscape Canada, Western Living and Harrowsmith magazines. From 1983 to 1985 he served as the SALA Regional Correspondent to LAR. This professional writing and other original work in the communications media, have significantly contributed to the advancement of the profession of landscape architecture.
Perhaps most significant, have been Doug's achievements in the category of Direct Service in the Society. Mr Clark's contributions have, and continue to be outstanding and inspiring. Douglas has been President of the Saskatchewan Association of Landscape Architects and was instrumental in the success of SALA in the presentation of the 1985 CSLA National Spirit of the Land Congress. In 1987 and 1988, Mr. Clark sat on the Board of Governors of the CSLA. He was an active participant, headed committees and produced reports on issues such as Provincial membership categories. This work has led to a standardization of Component Membership Categories. is important Chairmanship of the CSLA Awards Program.
Laurence Patterson
Larry earned the BLA degree from the University of Guelph in May 1969 and found immediate employment with Parks Canada. He worked in Calgary until 1972, then in Ottawa until 1974, when he landed in Winnipeg. Larry was accepted as full member of MALA on April 2, 1975 and assigned membership number 11 (the first 9 numbers were reserved for the 1973 charter members), which he still holds today in good standing.
The year 1976 brought a major career change for Larry, from government services to private practice, when first accepted a position with Haderrnan Fair Wily & Associates A year a so later, he became a partner in the then budding firm of Amisk Planning, which subsequently charged its name to Dunbar Paterson Rose and Associates Ltd.
Having served as MALA Treasurer for two years, Larry was asked and accepted the Treasurer position at CSLA in 1978. He served very capably and effectively in this position for a number of years. At the same time (around 1978) he became associated with the Lombard North Group and moved to Calgary, only to eventually become the firm’s President.
Of course, the AALA did also benefit from Larry's presence, as he became its President during 1984/85. In 1988, when the CSLA's financial situation had reached an all time low, Larry was called upon once again to serve as Treasurer. Within a year, the ledger was in the black and the Society still prospers today under his financial guidance. Of course, meanwhile Larry also served as CSLA President (1990/91), in addition to his Treasurer responsibilities.
1994 - Peter Jacobs, Peter Klynstra, Alex Rattray, Gunter Schoch (President's Award)
Peter Jacobs
Peter Jacobs is Emeritus Professor of Landscape Architecture, Université de Montréal following a research and teaching career that has spanned 50 years. He has lectured throughout North America, Europe and Latin America and has served as Invited Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, USA; the Technion, Israel; l’Universidad del Valle, Columbia; and Tsinghau University, China. He has published widely on the cultural aspects of garden design, landscape perception, and sustainable and equitable development.
He is a Fellow and Past president of the CSLA, Fellow of the ASLA, and Honorary Member of the Columbian Society of Landscape Architects. He served as Canada's delegate to IFLA for ten years, and chaired the College of Senior Fellows, Landscape and Garden Studies, Dumbarton Oaks, Washington D.C., where he was named the first Beatrix Farrand Distinguished Fellow.
Emeritus Chairman of the Environmental Planning Commission, IUCN, Peter served for 36 years as President of the Kativik Environmental Quality Commission and was a member of numerous Canadian Committees, Commissions and public hearings concerned with conservation and development. He chaired the Public Advisory Committee on Canada's State of Environment Report, 1980-1990.
Peter has consulted on the planning and design of urban open space systems at all scales including the “Parc des trois sommets” on Mount-Royal mountain, the rehabilitation of Parc Jean Drapeau, the design of Place Émilie Gamlin and the Story Teller’s Garden for young children. He is a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts and is Chair of the Montreal Heritage Council.
Peter Klynstra
Klynstra spent more than 20 years as a design professor in Environmental Planning at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and then at Dalhousie University during which time he mentored many students. In his over 40 years of practice as a landscape architect, Peter Klynstra was involved in major projects relating to waterfront planning, institutional land planning and development research. In addition to his innovative design talents, Klynstra was highly sought after for his expertise in community consultation and was a strong advocate for the voice of the community in planning projects. He was a member of the National Capital Commission’s Design Advisory Committee from 1994-1996, and was a Fellow of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects. But perhaps he is best known for his energy and enthusiasm to help on projects large or small with his limitless stream of ideas and encouragement. In 2011 the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects bestowed its President’s Award upon Klynstra in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the profession.
Alex Rattray
Alexander Rattray was MALA President from 1976 to 1978 and recognized as MALA/CSLA Life Member in 2001. He served as a CSLA President from 1980 to 1981, was invested as a CSLA Fellow in 1976, and received the distinguished CSLA President’s Award of Excellence. Alex was also an advisor to the International Federation of Landscape Architects. Alex received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Manitoba and a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. In 1969, he founded a program of landscape architecture at the University of Manitoba.
“Alex was committed to Winnipeg, the Prairies and his students, and spent his career at the University of Manitoba where he was a gifted professor with a passion for the natural world, good design and accessible public space. He was co-director of the Italian Studies Program, where for a decade he introduced students to the history, culture, art, architecture and landscape of the Brenta Valley region. On retirement, he was named a Senior Scholar and then a Professor Emeritus, in recognition of his distinguished service.
In addition to his family, friends and profession, Alex loved reading, politics, sports, sailing, long canoe trips, classical music, Scotch whiskey and Welsh corgis. And one of his favourite projects was one of his first, a small park designed with neighbourhood children in Providence, Rhode Island. After bringing their ideas to life, the children described their “enchanted” garden:
“The garden was created when a star fell and all the pieces became bits of the garden. It is the power within the star that made the garden magic … Whenever everyone enters the garden they become playful.”
1993 - Len Novak, Moura Quayle (President's Award)
Len Novak
Leonard Novak is proud of his heritage, born in 1941 in a pioneer farming family from the Regina area of Saskatchewan. Leonard graduated with the five-year professional degree in landscape architecture in 1969 from North Carolina State University School of Design; its program prominent in ecologically-based land planning. He brought that interest to his first employment in Calgary, Alberta, with the planning division of Underwood McLellan Associates.
In 1973 he established his individual practice which has represented the traditional and contemporary scope of landscape architecture: site planning, park design and regional landscape resource planning. Specializations developed in naturalized landscapes and the conservation of historical landscapes.
His most valued clients, projects and working experiences include Siksika First Nation (Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park); Alberta Historic Sites (Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village landscape, Reynolds Alberta Museum park); Litchfield Plantation, South Carolina; Petro Canada/Inglewood Community, Calgary (Inglewood Wildlands) and Calgary Parks (conservation planning for five historic parks).
He was honored to be appointed in 2004 and serve for 14 years as Landscape Adviser to Wascana Centre/Provincial Capital Commission, and thus work in his prairie “home” landscape, the Regina plain.
Leonard Novak was president of the AALA 1983 - ’84 and of the CSLA 1985 – ’86. He has served the CSLA on University Accreditation and as adjunct professor with the Faculty of Environmental Design, University of Calgary. He was made a CSLA Fellow in 1986 and a member Emeritus of the AALA in 2015.
Moura Quayle
Moura is the founding Director pro tem of UBC’s new School of Public Policy and Global Affairs and is a Professor in the Sauder School of Business. Moura’s interests lie in rethinking, refining and rebuilding collaborative spaces at the intersections of academia, government, business and civil society. Her teaching and research focus on strategic design, designed leadership and an emerging Policy Studio that helps students and organizations learn to use design processes and tools. She has been Deputy Minister of the B.C. Ministry of Advanced Education, B.C. Commissioner of Pacific Coast Collaborative, Dean of UBC’s Faculty of Land and Food Systems, and Associate VP, Academic Programs at UBC Okanagan. Moura received an honorary doctorate from the University of Guelph in 2004. She currently serves as Chair of Genome Canada. Her book, Designed Leadership, was published by Columbia University Press in July 2017.
1992 - Don Graham, Clive Justice, Andre Sauvé, James Taylor (President's Award)
Don Graham
Don Graham graduated from McGill University and then worked for several years in Ottawa with the Federal District Commission (now the NCC). As his interest in the field of landscape architecture grew, he left to attend the Harvard graduate school of design. He returned to Ottawa and his NCC job in 1958.
Six years later, he established D.W.Graham and Associates Limited, Landscape Architects, in Ottawa. A broad spectrum of projects realised by his firm included projects such as Garden of the Provinces in Ottawa, Ile Notre Dame and the Canadian pavilion at Expo 67, Mirabel Airport, Sparks Street Mall (1965), and Westmount Square in Montreal.
He was also a teacher, eventually developing an undergraduate program Landscape Major / within the Renewable Resources Department at McGill University and maintaining a ‘professorship’ for a number of years in the early eighties.
Don eventually returned to the NCC where he collaborated and advised on various civic projects for a number of years. He left public service in the late 1980s to work in consulting again, including challenging international work, particularly in India and Nepal.
Eventually he retired and moved near Iroquois, Ontario, on the St. Lawrence River. There, he established the DIAMONDS Land Trust through which he successfully orchestrated agreements to preserve public access to the shoreline and natural areas and promoted the idea of creating an emerald necklace of greenspaces along the South Dundas riverfront for the benefit the community.
He was past president of the CSLA, founding member of the AAPQ and worked, along with his colleagues from across the country, to found, foster and further the Landscape Architecture Canada Foundation between 1978 and 1988.
Donald Graham passed away on Nov. 4, 2017.
Clive Justice
Clive Lionel Justice, who was born at Ganges, Salt Spring Island, grew up fascinated by the plant life of British Columbia. At 17, he was serving with the Canadian Forces in Europe where, visiting relatives, he fell under the spell of the English beech, oak and rhododendron landscapes that would influence his life’s work. In 1947, Justice used his WWII veteran's allowance to study landscape architecture at the University of California, Berkeley. He was the first Canadian to graduate from the program (1950).
Justice became assistant landscape architect under Otis Bishopric (Department of Public Works, Ottawa), where he worked on embassies, post offices, and more, including the Prime Minister’s residence, but he returned to the west to study planning at UBC. Graduating in 1953, he joined Desmond Muirhead – “an absolute genius on plants,” he said – in the first Vancouver-based firm to specialize in landscape architecture, soon renamed Muirhead and Justice Landscape Architects (later, Justice, Webb and Vincent Landscape Architects).
Justice blazed a trail as one of BC’s first registered landscape architects, working first on planning and zoning (Richmond, B.C.), then on projects ranging from golf courses to landscape restoration, from dude ranches to botanical gardens in Malaysia and India, to dozens of local parks. Landmark projects include Vancouver’s Park & Tilford Gardens, the UBC Botanical Garden and Victoria’s Centennial Square. In Saskatoon, over some two decades, the firm shaped the University of Saskatchewan’s much-admired English campus landscapes.
Justice was dedicated to building the profession in the west, regularly mentoring interns and employees. He was a founding member of the BCSLA (1964), and integrally involved in setting standards of practice for the province. He served as President of the BCSLA (1970,71,72), then the CSLA (1972-74), where he set out to unite the provincial associations as components of the CSLA, and to nominate BC practitioners as Fellows.
Justice was a prolific builder and designer and a gifted communicator with an appetite for knowledge. In retirement, he studied garden history at Simon Fraser University, and his well-received book, Mr. Menzies’ Garden Legacy (2002), was in part responsible for his sartorial flair: he often sported Scottish regalia to bring Archibald Menzies to mind. He earned a doctorate in 2002 at the age of 76.
Justice was a founding member of the Vancouver Rhododendron Society, an American Rhododendron Society Gold Medal recipient, and a volunteer abroad, working with park planners in developing countries. Trees were one of his many passions, and he was active in protecting local parks and Vancouver's heritage trees. (His bumper sticker, recalls his son Charles, read, “Trees are the Answer”.) He is remembered especially for his service to the community and the indomitable force of his personality.
Andre Sauvé
Mr. Sauvé received his B.S.Agr. from the University of Montreal in 1955 and was awarded the Lieutenant-Governor's Medal of Québec. In 1959 he completed his graduate studies in landscape architecture, ornamental horticulture, communications, and urban design at Cornell University. After graduation, he worked for the Quebec Ministry of Agriculture, and for the urban design firm of Lahaye & Robert until 1967 when he established his own consulting firm in Montreal. From 1970 until 1973, he was project manager for landscape architecture, urban design, and regional planning in the multi disciplinary firm of Beauchemin, Beaton, Lapointe Inc. of Montreal. Mr. Sauvé was President of the Association des architectes paysagistes du Québec from 1974 until 1976 and from 1978 until 1979. He also held memberships in the Order of Agrologists of Québec and the International Society of Arboriculture. From 1973 onwards, Mr. Sauvé worked in private practice in Montreal, handling projects in landscape architecture, urban design, park and site planning, master planning, and environmental impact studies.
About Andre Schwabenbauer
In December of 2004, the CSLA was devastated by the untimely passing of our Past President Andre Schwabenbauer. At only 42, Andre had achieved much in his life, through his dedication to his family, his profession, and his community. Andre graduated from the University of Manitoba as Bachelor of Environmental Studies in 1984 and as Master of Landscape Architecture in 1992. He became a member of the Alberta Association of Landscape Architects (AALA) and the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA) in 1991 and served on the AALA executive council from 1994 to 1998 as President-elect, President and Past-president. In 2001, Andre was elected CSLA President-elect and served as President from 2002 to 2003.
Shortly before assuming the CSLA Presidency, Andre was diagnosed with leukaemia. Thus began the series of battles with this disease, battles he fought quietly, courageously, and with great determination. Despite the daily personal challenges, Andre was unwavering in his commitment to the profession.
Andre’s Achievements and Legacy
Andre received a number of awards for his work starting with an academic award for highest achievement from the Manitoba Association of Landscape Architects. In his private practice Andre received awards from the Alberta Association Canadian Institute of Planners (1995) - Award of Distinction for his work in the Canossa Neighbourhood Amendment (Storm Water Management Facility) and a National Citation Award from the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (2000) for the preparation of the Naturescapes Guidebook prepared for The City of Edmonton, Edmonton Catholic Schools and Edmonton Public Schools.
The crowning achievement and a testimony to Andre’s commitment to his profession was his induction into the College of Fellows in the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects. Fellows of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects are those who are recognized by their peers as having made an outstanding contribution to the profession. At the IFLA conference in 2003 in Calgary Andre was honoured by his peers and became a distinguished member of the College of Fellows.
Andre was instrumental in bringing the 40th World Congress of the International Federation of Landscape Architects annual conference to Calgary. When he began his Presidency, he was already deeply involved as co-chair of the Organizing Committee. Working closely with a stellar team of AALA volunteers, Andre worked tirelessly to advance planning for this landmark event. This conference brought landscape architects from all over the world to Calgary. As well, it provided a financial legacy in consolidating the CSLA Reserve Fund thereby providing stability for the future.
In addition to the workload posed by the Congress, Andre was instrumental in achieving some important milestones such as the stabilization of the production of Landscapes/Paysages, improved cooperation with the ASLA, and the advancement of new initiatives in the governance of the profession in Canada.
Throughout his Presidency, Andre was guided by his deep respect for the work of previous Boards of the CSLA and his personal vision of the profession. He was convinced that the past contributions of our profession to society would be surpassed only by the vital roles we could and must play in the future planning and stewardship of the resources of our nation.