by Marga Rose Hancock, Hon. AIA
AIA Seattle Executive Vice President

On a warm June evening, following a rare 90-degree day in Seattle, the heroes and heroines of the Puget Sound design community gathered with AIA President-elect Eugene Hopkins, FAIA, to celebrate the year’s rich crop of national and local honors. AIA Seattle President-elect Kristen M. Scott, AIA, standing in for President Rena M. Klein, AIA, welcomed some 120 attendees to the 13th annual Honors Gala, held at the historic Four Seasons Olympic Hotel in Seattle.

On behalf of the Institute, Hopkins delivered greetings and gratitude to all who have helped advance the profession and helped bring home the medals to those recognized with national honors this year.

Local honors presented June 7 included the:
• AIA Seattle Medal, the highest honor conferred on an architect by AIA Seattle, recognizing Tom Bosworth for his much-honored and widely published work in residential design, which has become emblematic of the central values of Northwest architecture. In a career as a productive practitioner and an influential educator, including service as chair of the University of Washington Department of Architecture 1968–72, Bosworth has significantly advanced the quality and the international reputation of Northwest design. (See Bosworth’s remarks at the Gala.)
• Allied Organization Award to the University of Washington Press, in recognition of its work to disseminate Northwest intellectual and artistic culture through thoughtful publications, including some cornerstone works for the design community.
• Community Service Award to Steven N. Arai, AIA, acknowledging his leadership in a practice emphasizing community service (Arai/Jackson Architects + Planners) and his personal devotion to civic engagement, carried out both locally and nationally.

AIA Seattle Honorary Membership, presented by Honors Nominating Committee Chair David Miller, FAIA, to three esteemed contributors to the profession: attorney Stanton Phillip Beck, Esq., who has played a key role in several of the landmark cases affecting design practice in Washington; Seattle City Librarian Deborah L. Jacobs, recognizing her wise guidance for the major investment toward Seattle’s new Central Library and neighborhood facilities; and landscape architect Robert Murase, FASLA, design collaborator for some of the Northwest’s most highly regarded public spaces.

National Honors
Persons recognized for receiving national honors this year included five newly elevated AIA Fellows Bruce E. Blackmer, FAIA; Tony Gale, FAIA; William H. Kreager, FAIA; Val Thomas, FAIA; and Rick Zieve, FAIA. Also honored were new honorary structural engineer Jon D. Magnusson, Hon. AIA; and the 2003 AIA Architecture Firm Award recipient, Miller|Hull.

As the evening drew to a close, AIA Seattle Fellows/Honors Council President Roger Williams, FAIA, called the “Honor Roll,” connecting those recognized this year with those who have accepted honors in the past. To mark the occasion in memory, the Emerald City company rose for a closing circle, joining hands to sing “Good Night, Eugene” (to the tune of the traditional “Good Night, Irene”), thus wishing the AIA first vice president adieu before departing in a spirit of community pride.

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