2019 marked 50 years since the establishment of the School of Environmental Design, which became the College of Environment and Design in 2001. As part of a year-long celebration, CED faculty, staff, and alumni honored the most amazing individuals and groups who have shaped the college throughout its history.
From the first landscape architecture classes in 1928 to our beginnings as a college in 1969, the CED has been shaped by and has produced many trailblazers and visionaries. Through their scholarship, teaching, service, and professional practice, these individuals demonstrated unwavering commitments to advancing the principles of design, planning, and preservation.
A committee of CED faculty, staff, and alumni undertook the difficult task of narrowing down the list of about 100 nominees to the 50 finalists: the Owens 50, named after CED’s founding Dean, Hubert Owens. These talented individuals brought unparalleled passion, expertise, and commitment to our professions, the college, and the betterment of the world at large. Through their vision and hard work, they shaped our programs and enhanced the CED’s ability to serve students and enrich lives.
In addition to the 50 individuals, we also honored six institutions that have had an indelible impact on the CED. They range from alumni organizations to highly-regarded professional allies to generous friends and donors.
The intention was to invite the winners to a ceremony on campus in March 2020. While the onset of the Covid pandemic cancelled those plans, we could not be more proud of our Owens 50, and honor them here.
The Owens 50
Dexter Adams – As UGA’s landscape architect and grounds director for many years, Adams was involved with hundreds of campus development projects focused on sustainable plantings, maintenance operations, historic preservation and storm water management. His service also includes work on the Oconee Rivers Greenway Commission and the boards of three historic endeavors in Walton County, where he spent much of his childhood.
Donna Adamson – The CED’s first female graduate of the Historic Preservation program, Adamson’s distinguished career includes real estate appraisal of historic properties, tenure as Director of the Harper Fowlkes House in Savannah, President of the Historic Savannah Foundation, board member of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, and member of the CED Steering Committee.
Charles Aguar (1926-2000) – Aguar’s titles are many: WWII veteran, naturalist, historian, photographer, planner, landscape architect, community advocate, and volunteer. He was a charter member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and the Society for American City and Regional Planning History. He was also a founding member of the Oconee Rivers Greenway Commission and co-author of “Wrightscapes: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Landscape Designs.”
Mary Anne Akers – Akers taught planning courses, worked with UGA’s Institute of Community and Area Development, and was the architect of the CED’s MEPD program. Akers was Founding Dean for the School of Architecture and Planning at Morgan State University and works professionally as a city planner and community activist in the Philippines and in underserved US communities.
Doug Allen (1947-2014) – Allen was a beloved professor at Georgia Tech for thirty-seven years and visionary landscape architect throughout his life. He always remained a loyal alumnus of the CED. His career highlights include practicing internationally, serving on the editorial board of Places Journal, and the designating of the Chattahoochee Corridor as a National Recreational Area.
Vince Belafiore (1943-2014) – Belafiore was a Professor of Landscape Architecture at the CED, Chair of the Landscape Architecture Program at Virginia Tech and later at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a past President of CELA and ASLA. He was instrumental in creating the Taj Mahal Cultural Heritage District Development Plan and in 1993 was awarded the ASLA president’s Medal.
Brooks Breeden (1941-2014) – In his academic career at the CED and at Ohio State University, Breeden was a pioneer in using computers for instruction. He authored several texts, including “LARCH: Site Engineering Software for Landscape Architects,” “Microsurvey: Computer Drill-And-Practice Problems for Fundamental Surveying Operations,” and “Uniform National Exam Study Guide for Landscape Architects.”
Pratt Cassity – Pratt was with the CED for over thirty years, during which he served as Director of the Center of Community Design and Preservation. His work to organize people in their communities – whether in a small village in Ghana or a small town in rural Georgia – made positive change and influenced countless students.
Ed Castro – Castro is the President and CEO of one of Atlanta’s leading design/build landscape firms. Its projects include planting and maintenance, designing development standards, and work in parks in Cabbage Town and Candler Park. Castro generously supports numerous non-profit organizations and CED initiatives.
Blakeslee Chase – Chase, the CED’s first female graduate, functions as a philanthropist and lover of gardens and travel. She established a travel scholarship enabling numerous CED students to study abroad. Another of her donations allowed for the creation of the destination garden of the Clifton Forge School of the Arts in Virginia. She married Allan Chase, BLA ’56.
Jim Cothran (1940-2012) – Cothran was a respected landscape architect, horticulturalist, historic garden preservationalist, and adjunct CED Professor. He served on the CED’s Dean’s Advisory Council and numerous boards and commissions in Atlanta. He authored “Gardens of Historic Charleston,” “Gardens and Historic Plants of the Antebellum South,” and “Charleston Gardens and the Landscape Legacy of Loutrel Briggs.”
Gregg Coyle – Coyle was a CED Professor of Landscape Architecture from 1985 to 2018 known for his graphics talent. As landscape architect, he designed and oversaw the development of UGA’s Costa Rica campus from land acquisition to completion. Coyle also developed the master plan for UGA’s Coastal Gardens and Historic Bamboo Farm in Savannah. He is a member of the UGA Teaching Academy.
Jack Crowley – Crowley, a former Dean of the CED, is a longtime Professor with decades of influence on planning and development in Georgia, Oklahoma, and throughout central America. He restructured the School of Environmental Design into the College of Environment and Design and later founded the MEPD (now MUPD) program in 2006. He is a former director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.
Dorinda Dallmeyer – Dallmeyer is a former Director of the CED’s Environmental Ethics Program as well as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, past President of the American Society of International Law, recipient of numerous grants and two awards for Outstanding Writing about the Southern Environment, and author and editor of numerous books and articles. For twenty-one years she was Associate Director of UGA Law’s Dean Rusk Center.
Vladimir Djurovic – After working with EDAW in Atlanta, Djurovic moved home to Lebanon in 1995 to establish his award-winning landscape architecture firm. Numerous international publications and broadcast media have featured his work. Djorovic has received major international awards including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture and the ASLA Award of Excellence in Residential Design.
Jean Edwards – Beloved caretaker of Denmark Hall and treasured member of the CED family, Miss Jean lifted the spirits of generations of CED students who got to know her. Her warmth, sincerity, friendliness, and love for music, church and family made her stand out on campus and in the memories of those who knew her.
Bruce Ferguson – Ferguson, who is known as the expert on porous pavements and stormwater infiltration in urban design, had a variety of titles including Franklin Professor of Landscape Architecture, Director of the SED, and President of CELA. He is the author of numerous scientific and professional articles, most recently “The Vision of Built Landscapes: A Philosophy of Landscape Construction.”
Ian Firth (1943-2022) – After pursuing a career in city planning and landscape architecture in Cheshire, England, Firth joined the CED faculty. Firth’s work on the historic landscape at Dungeness led to several projects sponsored by the National Park Service focusing on cultural landscapes. Though retired, he remains involved in cultural landscape conservation.
Dan Franklin (1916-2004) – Franklin practiced landscape architecture for over forty years throughout the eastern United States. He created over two thousand gardens, many of which were featured in books on Southern gardens. A loyal alumnus throughout his life, he established the Dan B. Franklin Scholarship Endowment Fund for the CED. He was active in numerous regional landscape and historic preservation organizations.
Charley Godfrey – Godfrey is well-known throughout the Southeast for his elegant residential estates and public space landscape designs. His work has won numerous Excellence in Design awards from the City of Spartanburg and has been featured in numerous magazines throughout the South, including “Southern Living.”
Kona Gray – Principal at EDSA with twenty-six years of experience in over thirty countries, Gray currently serves as Vice President for Professional Practice of the American Society of Landscape Architects. He is an active member of the Urban Land Institute and a past President of the Landscape Architecture Foundation.
Bob Grese – Grese served at the University of Michigan as a Professor, the Theodore Roosevelt Chair of Ecosystem Management, and Director of the Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum. He is the author of “Jens Jensen: Maker of Natural Parks and Gardens” and editor of “The Native Landscape Reader.” He is also a member of ASLA, a CELA Fellow, and an honorary member the Garden Club of America.
Edah Grover (1931-2018) – After earning her MLA, Grover became a pilot and bought a single engine airplane to travel to remote areas for her landscape architecture business, Grover and Associates Landscape Architects, which has received multiple awards including a national design award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. She was active in numerous local and national service and professional organizations.
Bob Hill (1933-2007) – Hill was a professor at the CED for thirty years and Director of the Founders Memorial Garden for twenty. He received a CELA Award for Excellence and has a CED scholarship fund established in his name. He is a past President of the ASLA’s Georgia chapter and remains an authority on regional plants.
Catherine Howett – Howett has a distinguished career of practice, teaching and scholarship. She is a contributor, editor, and author of numerous books on the theory and practice of nineteenth- and twentieth-century American landscape architecture, including “A World of Her Own Making: Katherine Smith Reynolds and the Landscape of Reynolda.” She is a former Senior Fellow at Dumbarton Oaks.
Bob Hughes – Hughes is the Founding Principal of HGOR, a design firm which currently has projects in twenty-three states and six countries and over one hundred design awards from state, regional, and national organizations including ASLA. Hughes is a past President of the CED’s Dean’s Advisory Council and has been an invited lecturer at UGA, Georgia Tech, and Clemson University. He was instrumental in establishing the HGOR/Richard Davis Lecture Fund and a CED Professorship.
Dale Jaeger (1950-2024) – With over thirty years of experience in landscape architecture and preservation, Jaeger’s special interests include cultural landscapes, enhancement plans of downtown and roadway streetscapes, pedestrian trails, bikeway trails, and greenways. She is the former Principal Landscape Architect and Preservation Planner of The Jaeger Company and continues to work with WLA Studio.
Lawrie Jordan – Jordan is the current Director of Imagery and Remote Sensing at Esri, a leader in ArcGIS software. His career includes co-founding ERDAS (along with honoree Bruce Rado), and cutting edge research and application of GIS in environmental and civil projects across the globe. He has advised numerous government organizations on current trends involving imagery and satellite programs.
Philip Juras – Juras’s artistic work explores the aesthetics of ecologically-intact natural environments and has been exhibited at numerous galleries (and published in accompanying books) including the Telfair Academy in Savannah, the Morris Museum of Art in Augusta, and the Biblioteca Virgilio Barco in Bogotá, Colombia.
Deanna Kent – Kent served as the graduate programs assistant to Professors Ferguson, Firth, Hannula, Nicholls, Stovall, Waters, and Westmacott from 1976 until her retirement in 2001. Today she spends time between her homes in Florida and Georgia, traveling, enjoying time with family, friends, and her puppy, Dudley.
Marguerite Koepke – Koepke was a landscape architecture professor first at Kansas State University and later at the CED. She became the Director of UGA’s Governor’s Teaching Fellows Program in 2000. She is currently a charter member of UGA’s Teaching Academy, a Lilly Teaching Fellow, and a University Senior Teaching Fellow. In addition to her work in academia, she has professional design experience in the private and government sectors.
John Linley (1916-1996) – Linley practiced for many years as an architect before joining the CED faculty in 1963 where he played an integral role in the formation of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation. He is the author of two important works on Georgia architecture: “The Georgia Catalog: Historic American Buildings Survey” and “The Architecture of Georgia: The Oconee Area.”
Bill Mann – Before teaching at the CED for thirty-eight years, Mann taught at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia as well as Michigan State University. He is the author of “Landscape Architecture: An Illustrated History” and “Space and Time in Landscape Architectural History.” He serves on the Board of the Athens Historical Society.
Randy Marshall – Marshall gained renown as a landscape architect with a celebrity clientele and worldwide projects, including restoration of UNESCO World Heritage sites and numerous Frank Lloyd Wright houses and landscapes. His philanthropic work overlaps with his service as an active member of numerous foundations and organizations. A loyal alumnus, Marshall created two scholarship funds to support CED students.
Clay Mooney – Mooney’s active involvement with the CED includes several terms as President of the CED Alumni Association, secretary of the Steering Committee, and unofficial Historian of the CED Alumni Association. He is the Owner/Principal of the Asheville, NC-based private design firm Design Associates.
Roger Moore – In addition to his expertise in computer graphics and digital artistry, Moore is known for his distinguished teaching career at the CED, Harvard University, and Michigan State University. The relationship he created between the CED’s management practices and advancing technology afforded the College many national rankings.
Darrel Morrison – Morrison influenced countless CED students by focusing on native plants, merging art with ecology, and prioritizing ecology-based design and management. He also was the lead landscape architect for the Ladybird Johnson National Wildflower Center in Austin, TX. After retirement, he taught part-time at Columbia University, Rutgers University, and at the New York Botanical Garden.
Dan Nadenicek – Current Draper Chair and former Dean of the CED, Nadenicek’s distinguished career includes time spent teaching at UGA, Penn State, and Clemson University where he is the former Chair of Planning and Landscape Architecture. He is also the author of ninety publications covering historic preservation, landscape history, and urban design. He established the CED’s sole PhD program and serves on numerous editorial boards.
Bob Nicholls – Nicholls, a former Dean of the SED, oversaw the creation of the College’s Historic Preservation program, created the State Botanical Garden, and established Environmental Design as part of UGA’s Cortona, Italy study abroad program. The Fulbright Scholar studied under Ian McHarg at the University of Pennsylvania and also worked as an architect and planner in South Wales and Canada.
Maureen O’Brien – O’Brien is the retired curator of UGA’s Founders Garden, a 2.5-acre garden and building complex which is on the National Register of Historic Places and Georgia’s Register of Historic Places. She was also a CED instructor of plants and planting design. She has decades of community service in Athens and the CED and is President of the Athens-Clarke County Community Tree Council.
H.B. Owens (1905-1989) – Hubert Bond Owens, founder of UGA’s landscape architecture program and the SED’s first Dean, was for nine years UGA’s sole landscape architecture professor. He was a past President of the International Federation of Landscape Architects and the American Society of Landscape Architects. Owens designed numerous prestigious landscapes including UGA’s Founders Garden.
Karen Phillips – Phillips’ career focused on transforming economically distressed urban areas, playing a key role in Harlem’s “Second Renaissance.” Her resume includes Vice President for Development of the New York State Housing Finance Agency, Commissioner on the NYC Planning Commission, and President/CEO of both the Abyssinian Development Corporation and the Black Equity Alliance.
Bruce Rado – Rado is a co-founder (with Lawrie Jordan) and Vice President of ERDAS of ERDAS whose GIS software assists in interpreting geospatial information, which aids in making decisions across multiple disciplines. A loyal alumnus, Rado and his wife Andrea endowed a scholarship for GIS study, endowed a Georgia Commitment Scholarship, and actively support CED special projects.
Allen Stovall – Longtime CED professor and the College’s first Development Director, Stovall previously taught at the University of Virginia and currently serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council. He is a producer of the documentary, The Region in Change an analysis of land speculation in Appalachia. He has received multiple awards from the AIA, ASLA, and The National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Fumiaki Takano – Takano is the founder of Takano Landscape Planning and President of the International Federation of Landscape Architects, Asia Pacific Region. He has received many awards including the IFLA Merit Award for his work on the Tokachi Millennium Forest, Park of the Year from the Japanese Ministry of Construction for the Showa Children’s Playground, and the Médaille d’Or for Garden Restoration from Department Hauts-de-Seine France.
John Waters (1936-2022) – Waters established the CED’s MHP program and authored “Maintaining a Sense of Place: A Citizen’s Guide to Historic Preservation.” He has taught preservation planning, cultural resource assessment, and landscape conservation. In 2017 he received the key to the City of Athens from Mayor Nancy Denson for his decades-long vision and contributions to preservation.
Neal Weatherly – A noted plantsman and beloved professor with roots in a family nursery business, Weatherly taught plant identification and planting design to countless students over many years. His service beyond the CED included coordinating the Georgia LARE Review as well as authoring or co-authoring eighteen publications while at UGA’s Extension office.
Scott Weinberg (1950-2023) – Weinberg, former CED Interim Dean and Associate Dean, served as an Athens-Clarke County planning commissioner for twenty years and as Technology Manager for the Athens venues of the 1996 Summer Olympics. He is active in ASLA, APA, and UGA’s Teaching Academy. He has authored numerous publications on technology in landscape architecture.
Richard Westmacott – A specialist in rural conservation and landscape engineering, Westmacott and his wife Jean have rescued numerous historic buildings by relocating them to their farm property. His writing credits include “Gardens and Yards of African Americans in the Rural South” and, for England’s Countryside Commission, “New Agricultural Landscapes.”
Brooks Wigginton (1912-1995) – Recipient of the 1950 Rome Prize in Landscape Architecture, this former faculty member and practitioner is responsible for the design of numerous prestigious landscapes throughout several states. He is the author of “Trees and Shrubs for the Southern Piedmont,” “Japanese Gardens,” and “Trees and Shrubs for the Southeast.”
Institutions
CED Alumni Association –The CED Alumni Association connects graduates of the CED through a vast network of professionals in a range of fields. CEDAA ensures all graduates have access to various resources that help to ensure they remain connected to the CED, UGA, and their fellow graduates long after graduation.
American Society of Landscape Architects, Georgia Chapter – Celebrating over forty years of service to the profession, the Georgia Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects represents more than 450 members and is the eleventh-largest Chapter in the nation. The Georgia Chapter has been a critical partner with the CED in supporting the education of generations of landscape architects.
Georgia Power – Georgia Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company, is committed to delivering clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy to its 2.6 million customers with a diverse generation mix that includes nuclear, coal, natural gas and renewables. Georgia Power is consistently recognized by J.D. Power as an industry leader in customer satisfaction.
Georgia Transmission Corporation – In partnership with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the GTC established the Findit Program, a statewide cultural resource survey housed at the CED’s Center for Community Design and Preservation. The program funds staff positions and graduate assistantships, enabling students to survey historic resources in over 60 Georgia counties and cities.
Peachtree Garden Club – The PGC’s mission is to stimulate, through education, the knowledge of gardening and conservation; to aid in the protection of native plants and birds; and to encourage civic improvement. Through their endowed Neel Reid Scholarship fund, the PGC has supported the education of the CED’s top landscape architecture students and has sponsored the annual Neel Reid Lecture.
Wormsloe Foundation –In 2013, The Wormsloe Foundation gave 15.5 acres of Wormsloe to UGA, establishing the Center for Research and Education at Wormsloe (CREW). Located near Savannah, CREW is situated on one of the nation’s most historic and environmentally rich sites and provides unparalleled opportunities for research on environmental history.
