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2020 Graduating Student Award Recipients

Image of Variations of possible assemblages of the 25-meter zone, with different combinations of floors and walls.

Image from the James Templeton Kelley Prize-winning project "Porch House + 300 Panels, 400 Cuts, 400 Bandages" by Anna Goga (MArch II '20)

Each year at commencement, the Harvard Graduate School of Design confers awards to graduating students that demonstrate exceptional scholarly achievement, leadership, and service. Congratulations to all the 2020 graduating student award recipients!

School-wide Awards

Gerald M. McCue Medal: Karan Saharya (MDes Critical Conservation ’20)

The Gerald M. McCue Medal is awarded each year to the student graduating from one of the school’s post professional degree programs who has achieved the highest overall academic record.

Digital Design Prize: Jia Jung (MArch I ’20)

The Digital Design Prize is presented by the Graduate School of Design to the student who has demonstrated the most imaginative and creative use of computer graphics in relation to the design professions.

Plimpton Poorvu Prize: MacKenzie Wasson (MArch I ’20) for his submission Building Biras: A Hurricane Adapted Caribbean Resort

The Plimpton-Poorvu Design Prize recognizes the top team or individual for a viable real estate project completed as part of the GSD curriculum that best demonstrates feasibility in design, construction, economics, and in fulfillment of market and user needs.

Peter Rice Prize: Peteris Lazovskis (MArch I ’20)

The Peter Rice prize honors students of exceptional promise in the school’s architecture and advanced degree programs who have proven their competence and innovation in advancing architecture and structural engineering.

Sinclair Kennedy Traveling Fellowship: Elena Brigitte Clarke (MDes Critical Conservation ’20) for study in Italy

The Sinclair Kennedy Traveling Fellowships support a full academic year of research at destinations outside of the United States. 

Fulbright Grant: James Carrico (MArch II/MUP ’20) for study in Hong Kong

The Fulbright US Student Program is an international exchange program in the fields of education, culture, and science, offering advanced research, study, and teaching opportunities in over 140 countries.

Architecture Awards

American Institute of Architects Medal: Ian Miley (MArch I AP ’20)

The American Institute of Architects Medal is awarded to a professional degree student in the Master in Architecture graduating class who has achieved the highest level of excellence in overall scholarship throughout the course of their studies.

Alpha Rho Chi Medal: Milos Mladenovic (MArch I ’20)

The Alpha Rho Chi Medal, which is awarded to the graduating student who has achieved the best general record of leadership and service to the department, and who gives promise of professional merit through their character.

James Templeton Kelley Prize MArch I: Ian Miley (MArch I AP ’20) for “Stranger in Moscow: The Diplomatic Illusive
James Templeton Kelley Prize MArch II: Anna Goga (MArch II ’20) for “Porch House + 300 Panels, 400 Cuts, 400 Bandages

The James Templeton Kelley Prize recognizes the best final design project submitted by a graduating student in the architecture degree programs.

Julia Amory Appleton Traveling Fellowship in Architecture: Radu-Remus Macovei (MArch I/MUP ’20)

The Julia Amory Appleton Traveling Fellowship is given to a student in the Department of Architecture on the basis of academic achievement as well as the worthiness of the project to be undertaken.

Kevin V. Kieran Prize: Nicolás Delgado Alcega (MArch II ’20)
Kevin V. Kieran Prize: Yotam Ben-Hur (MArch II ’20)
Kevin V. Kieran Prize: David Mitchell Kim (MArch II ’20)

The Kevin V. Kieran Prize recognizes the highest level of academic achievement among students graduating from the post-professional Master in Architecture program. 

Dept. of Architecture Faculty Design Award MArch I: Euipoom Estelle Yoon (MArch I ’20)
Dept. of Architecture Faculty Design Award MArch II: Hee Young Pyun (MArch II ’20)

The Department of Architecture Faculty Design Award was established by the faculty of the Department of Architecture with the aim of recognizing significant achievement within a body of design work completed by a student at the GSD. This award is given to graduating students from each of the department’s two programs.

Landscape Architecture Awards

Thesis Prize in Landscape Architecture: Chelsea Kilburn (MLA I AP ’20) for “That Sinking Feeling: Subsidence Parables of the San Joaquin Valley

The Landscape Architecture Thesis Prize is given to the graduating student who has prepared the best independent thesis during the past academic year.

2020 Landscape Architecture Foundation Olmsted Scholar: Nadyeli Quiroz (MDes/MLA I AP ’20)

Each year the faculty in the Department of Landscape Architecture nominates a student for the Landscape Architecture Foundation Olmsted Scholars Program. The program recognizes and supports students with exceptional leadership potential.

Norman T. Newton Prize: Siwen Xie (MLA I ’20)

The Norman T. Newton Prize is given to a graduating landscape architecture student whose work best exemplifies achievement in design expression as realized in any medium.

Pete Walker & Partners Fellowship for Landscape Architecture: Carson Fisk-Vittori (MLA I ’20)
Pete Walker & Partners Fellowship for Landscape Architecture: Danica Danielle Liongson (MDes Urbanism, Landscape, Ecology/MLA I 2020)

The Pete Walker and Partners Fellowship for Landscape Architecture is awarded to support travel and study for a graduating GSD student to advance their understanding of the body of scholarship and practices related to landscape design.

Jacob Weidenmann Prize: Jonathon Koewler (MLA I AP ’20)

The Jacob Weidenmann Prize is awarded to the student of the most distinguished design achievement graduating from the Department of Landscape Architecture.

ASLA Certificate of Merit: Michael Cafiero (MLA I AP ’20)
ASLA Certificate of Merit: Isaac W. Stein (MDes Risk & Resilience/MLA II ’20)
ASLA Certificate of Honor: Samuel Murdoch Gilbert (MLA I ’20)

Each year the faculty in the Department of Landscape Architecture nominates students for the American Society of Landscape Architecture Awards.

Charles Eliot Traveling Fellowship in Landscape Architecture: Andy Lee (MLA I AP/MUP ’20)

The Charles Eliot Traveling Fellowship is awarded annually as the highest honor by the Department of Landscape Architecture to one of its graduates.

Urban Planning and Design

Academic Excellence in Urban Planning: Amelia Muller (MUP ’20)
Academic Excellence in Urban Design: Soledad Patiño (MAUD ’20)

The Awards for Academic Excellence in Urban Planning and Urban Design honors graduating students from each of the programs who have achieved the highest academic record.

Award for Outstanding Leadership in Urban Planning: Emily McGovern Duma (MUP ’20)
Award for Outstanding Leadership in Urban Planning: Laura Greenberg (MAUD ’20)

The Award for Outstanding Leadership in Urban Planning and Urban Design honors graduating students from each of the programs who have demonstrated outstanding leadership during their time at the Graduate School of Design.

Urban Planning Thesis Prize: Margaret Haltom (MUP ’20) for “The Next Southern Landmark: A Roadmap to Confederate Monument Redesigns and RFP for the Site of a Former White Supremacist Statue
Urban Design Thesis Prize: Justin Cawley (MAUD ’20), “Rescaling the University: Vertical Campuses and Postindustrial Urban Restructuring in Western Sydney

The Department of Urban Planning and Design Thesis Prize is given to the graduating students in each of the programs who have prepared the best independent theses during the past academic year.

The Award for Excellence in Project-Based Urban Planning: Brett Alexander Merriam (MUP ’20)

The Award for Excellence in Project-Based Urban Planning is given to students who have demonstrated exceptional ability in urban planning projects including research and design studios throughout their course of study. 

The Award for Excellence in Urban Design: Sarah Fayad (MLAUD ’20)

The Award for Excellence in Urban Design is given to students who have demonstrated exceptional design ability throughout their course of study in the Urban Design program.

AICP Outstanding Student Award: Juan Pablo Reynoso (MUP/MPP ’20)

The American Institute of Certified Planners Outstanding Student Award recognizes outstanding attainment in the study of planning by students graduating from accredited planning programs. The recipient of the award is chosen by a jury of planning faculty at each school.

Ferdinand Colloredo-Mansfeld Prize for Superior Achievement in Real Estate Studies: Patrick Braga (MUP ’20)
Ferdinand Colloredo-Mansfeld Prize for Superior Achievement in Real Estate Studies: Adriel Deller (MDes Real Estate & the Built Environment ’20)

The Ferdinand Colloredo-Mansfeld Prize for Superior Achievement in Real Estate Studies is awarded annually to a graduating student from any program who has exhibited superior academic accomplishment and leadership in real estate studies.

Druker Traveling Fellowship: Laura Greenberg (MAUD ’20) to study study Eco-Districts in the United States

Established in 1986, The Druker Traveling Fellowship is open to all students at the GSD who demonstrate excellence in the design of urban environments. It offers students the opportunity to travel in the United States or abroad to pursue study that advances understanding of urban design.

Design Studies

Dimitris Pikionis Award: Wilfred Guerron (MDes HPDM ’20)

The Dimitris Pikionis Award recognizes a student for outstanding academic performance in the Master in Design Studies degree program.

The Daniel L. Schodek Award for Technology and Sustainability: Xinzhu Chen (MDes Energy & Environments ’20)

The Daniel L. Schodek Award for Technology and Sustainability honors the memory and legacy of Professor Daniel Schodek and the standards of excellence he established during his 40 years of teaching and mentoring at the GSD. The award is given annually in recognition of the best Master in Design Studies thesis in the area of technology and sustainable design.

The Design Studies Thesis Prize: Angela Mayrina (MDes Art, Design & Public Domain) for “A Guidebook to an Empty Land: Kalimantan and the Shadows of the Capital
The Design Studies Thesis Prize: Karan Saharya (MDes Critical Conservation ’20) for “In the Name of Heritage: Conservation as an Agent of Differential Development, Spatial Cleansing, and Social Exclusion in Mehrauli, Delhi

The Design Studies Thesis Prize is given annually for the best thesis by a Master in Design Studies student. 

Design Engineering

Overall Academic Performance: Mengxi Tan (MDE ’20)

The Overall Academic Performance award recognizes a graduating MDE student for outstanding academic performance in the Master in Design Engineering degree program.

Leadership and Community: Taylor Greenberg Goldy (MDE ’20)
Leadership and Community: Mia Zaidan (MDE ’20)

The Leadership and Community prize recognizes a graduating student who has displayed outstanding leadership  and community building  within the Design Engineering cohort and representation of MDE values to the larger world.

Outstanding Independent Design Engineering Project: Jacob Schonberger (MDE ’20) and Mengxi Tan (MDE ’20)

The Outstanding Design Engineering Project  award  honors  one or more  graduating MDE students  who have presented  the  Design Engineering Project that contributes, in the most compelling way, to understanding and addressing a complex societal problem.