COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS
BY PROFESSOR GERLINDE LEIDING

On Saturday afternoon, May 19, the School of Architecture held spring commencement ceremonies in Hogg Memorial Auditorium. Professor Gerlinde Leiding presented the following commencement address to graduates, families, faculty, and friends.

(Click here to view the 2007 Graduation Photo Album. All graduation photos are by Charlotte Pickett.)

Wow... This is like being on a swinging rope bridge high among the tree tops of the Amazonian jungle.

Deep breath... I have the jitters.

Standing here today, I feel very much akin with every one of you—graduates, parents, colleagues, holders of purse strings, and counselors of the heart.

Today our emotional strings are being plucked—embracing and letting go, laughing, and perhaps shedding a tear.

What we share is well expressed, in haiku form, by David M. Bader summarizing Isaac Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica:

"Cherry blossoms fall
with Force equal to Mass times
Acceleration."

Picture this happening—the inevitable and the logical work together. You should smile and be happy!

For some of you, soon ex-students, it took two years, for others four or five, to graduate and to realize that formulating the Question is more important than swallowing the Answer.

Case in Point:
The Moment, no matter how persuasive and beautiful—just like youth—soon fades and flees..., only to recycle—demanding a new Awareness.

Case in Point Two (from my perspective):
I have experienced "survival and a new beginning," when and where "one stood for all and all stood for one."

I saw "the loss of innocence" during the time of "we and ours" and lots of flowers.

I participated in "seeking stability in our commumity," only to witness the "I-me-my" proponents' exploitation of our physical and human resources, ultimately taking us to global posturing and uncertainty.

When you entered the School of Architecture, the Millenium frenzy was over; tragedy struck; the "I and mine" was replaced once more with "we care and we dare"; still, take stock individually!

As you clean out your desk, stop, look up, read the details on the University and School of Architecture buildings, take in the smell of the rooms and the tranquility of the courtyard—celebrate!

For me, the nearly 40 years here, have netted one "zero" to my starting salary; the roughly 250 young minds, mainly smiles, I encountered have enriched my life immeasurably and kept me on my toes... to embrace each day as a new day and to cherish that the world is big!

To close, once again with David M. Bader, this time addressing the essence of Albert Einstein's Relativity: the Special and General Theory:

"Cherry blossoms fall
at light speed through curved space-time
to land with a thud."

Congratulations! Thanks for the memories.

STUDENT, FACULTY, AND STAFF AWARDS, 2006-07

The School of Architecture recognized the following award-winning students, faculty, and staff at the May 19 commencement ceremony. Congratulations to all.

American Institute of Architects Awards (presented by Toni Thomasson, AIA, PMP, President, Austin Chapter AIA)--Awarded for scholarship and professional promise to graduating students in first-professional degree programs.

First Award: The Henry Adams Medal
Jonas Niels Philipsen, Bachelor of Architecture
Scott Petrie Vandever, Master of Architecture

Second Award: The Henry Adams Certificate
Kimberly Nichole Rice, Bachelor of Architecture
Brianne Bayley Page, Master of Architecture

Alpha Rho Chi Medal--Awarded to a graduating student in Architecture who has shown ability for leadership, performed willing service for the School, and has promise of professional merit.

Anh Hang Nguyen, Bachelor of Architecture

Oglesby Prize--Travel fellowship awarded each year to a professional degree candidate in Architecture for distinction in architectural design.

Brett Alan Wolfe, Bachelor of Architecture

Excellence in Design Awards--Awarded each year to graduating students for achieving excellence in design degree programs.

Dessislava L. Boneva, Bachelor of Science in Interior Design
Caroline Fickett, Bachelor of Science in Interior Design
Melissa Ann Simon, Bachelor of Science in Interior Design
Will H. Fox, Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies
Scott Petrie Vandever, Master of Architecture
I-Ping Yang, Master of Landscape Architecture
Adel Shahrokh Bagli, Master of Architecture
Brianne Bayley Page, Master of Architecture

Community and Regional Planning Outstanding Student Awards--Awarded to graduating students in Planning who have exhibited the best overall achievement in the classroom and in service to the School.

Allison M. Phillips, Master of Science in Community and Regional Planning

Landscape Architecture Award for Highest Academic Achievement in Design--Awarded to a graduating student in the Master of Landscape Architecture degree program who has shown outstanding ability and talent in design.

Marvin Eward Wylie, Master of Landscape Architecture

Landscape Architecture Award for Highest Academic Achievement and Service to the School and Program--Awarded to the graduating student in the Master of Landscape Architecture degree program who has demonstrated greatest overall excellence in academic scholarship and demonstrated the highest standards of leadership and service to the School and program.

Emily Manderson, Master of Landscape Architecture

Certificate of Achievement--Awarded to degree candidates in recognition of outstanding scholastic achievement.

Garrett Cooper Seaman, Bachelor of Science in Interior Design

Outstanding Professional Report/Thesis/Master's Design Study Awards--Awarded to graduating students whose terminal research project deserves special commendation.

Marisa Ferrari Ballas, Master of Science in Community and Regional Planning
Thomas Bradley Deal, Master of Architecture
Frank Richard Jacobus, Master of Architecture
Dana Georgette Serovy, Master of Science in Historic Preservation
Laura Elizabeth Smith, Master of Science in Architectural Studies

School of Architecture Outstanding Teacher Award (studio)--Samantha Randall
School of Architecture Outstanding Teacher Award (lecture)--Terry Kahn
School of Architecture Outstanding Service Award--Michael Oden
School of Architecture Outstanding Scholarship Award--Nichole Wiedemann
School of Architecture Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award--Ezra Sword
Graduate Research Assistant Awards--Tommi Ferguson and Jasmin Moore
School of Architecture Outstanding Lab Assistant Award--Pete Storey
Texas Excellence Teaching Award--Ulrich Dangel
Texas Excellence Teaching Award for Teaching Assistants--Hillary Collins
Friar Centennial Teaching Fellowship--Larry Speck
School of Architecture Outstanding Staff Awards--Jeanne Crawford and Jeff Evelyn

Events

Check out the SOA Calendar at http://soa.utexas.edu/calendar.

EXHIBIT

June 11 through September 2007
Mebane Gallery
Goldsmith Hall

"Resilient Foundations:
The Gulf Coast after Katrina"

Following the successful showing at the 10th Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, September-November 2006, the exhibition, "Resilient Foundations: The Gulf Coast after Katrina," will now be shown here. Special thanks to Larry Doll for curating the exhibition in our Mebane Gallery at the School of Architecture.

The exhibition sets out the resilient foundations for the region's development. The term resilience refers to the ability for an urban area to rebound after disaster and arises from the disciplines of ecology and planning. In order to suggest responsible scenarios for the Gulf Coast, The University of Texas at Austin has gathered neither infallible science nor a singular answer, but rather the most reliable information about the region's natural hazards, important production areas, ecologically significant lands, and valuable cultural resources.

Ecological understanding can be advanced through mapping and design, but such generative prospects are part of a larger concept about people's interrelation with land and water. Katrina's lessons will reduce the loss of life and property only if we reduce the impact of that which nature will reclaim regardless of our permission. Marc Morial, former New Orleans mayor, notes that the challenge we face "is not only about rebuilding New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, it is about rebuilding a culture, a human system."

On the second anniversary of Katrina's landfall, "counterMEASURES," a symposium and design invitation, will be held at UTSOA, which will examine the role of design at the scale of architecture, landscape, and urbanism as a means of achieving resilience in the face of extreme environmental conditions. With a series of panels focusing on ecology, economy, and technology, the speakers will consider the possible future scenarios for the Crescent City.

Special thanks to:

Exhibition Underwriter
The Howard E. Rachofsky Foundation

Symposium Underwriters
Edward W. Rose III Family Fund of the Dallas Foundation
McCall Design Group
Boone Powell, FAIA
Gay Kokernot Ratliff
Dick Clark Architecture
Charles E. Lawrence
Laura Toups
Helen Thompson
Elizabeth Chu Richter, FAIA

EXHIBIT

Through August 24
Visual Resources Collection
Sutton 3.128 (Monday-Friday, 8-5)

"Frozen Notes: the Photography of Frederick R. Steiner"

This exhibit features a selection of black and white photographs printed from 35mm Scala slides taken by the School of Architecture's Dean Frederick Steiner. Regarding his photographic pursuits, Dean Steiner says, "I seldom think about taking pictures, it is something I just do. Through my camera, I am an observer of the contemporary urban condition. Mostly, I take pictures of buildings and landscapes. I suppose my pictures might be viewed as abbreviated forms of architecture."

Dean Steiner is the Henry M. Rockwell Chair in Architecture, The University of Texas at Austin. During his tenure as a National Endowment for the Arts Prize Fellow in Rome in 1998, his love for photography was rekindled, and he has been photographing ever since.

EXHIBIT

Through May 31
Architecture and Planning Library's Reading Room
Battle Hall

"Sanctioning Modernism:
An Exhibition on Post-World War II Architecture"

This exhibit features selections from the Alexander Architectural Archive and the Architecture and Planning Library's Special Collections.

FACULTY SCHOLARSHIP

Associate Dean Louise Harpman's firm, Specht Harpman, has been in the news recently. They were honored by House & Garden magazine as "New Tastemakers" in the June 2007 issue of the magazine and received the award just last week. You can view the article on House & Garden's website at: http://www.houseandgarden.com/trends/tastemaker/spechtharpman.

Second, the firm presented their work in the first Austin-based Pecha Kucha program on May 10. Started in Tokyo, Pecha Kucha (Japanese for the sound of conversation) is a controlled creative convergence of designers, architects, and other artists. Austin’s version was organized by Herman Dyal and Carla Fraser and occurred at the offices of environmental graphic design firm fd2s (where Dyal is a principal). See http://pechakuchaaustin.org/ for more info. on Austin-style Pecha Kucha.

According to Architectural Record's web site review of the event, "Architects Louise Harpman and Scott Specht gave an amazing and entertaining presentation, with Louise Harpman showing their work as the straight man of the duo, and Scott Specht following up with a hilarious introduction to a fantasy theme park called Psychoplex. Their presentation was truly in the spirit of Pecha Kucha--a little bit serious, a little bit pure entertainment and chaotic. The crowd went wild." You may take your own tour of Psychoplex on the firm’s web site at: http://spechtharpman.com/html/psychoplex_1_-_scott_specht.html.

ALUMNI NEWS

CLASS OF 2007

The School of Architecture would like to extend a warm welcome to our new alumni. Congratulations, class of 2007! As you make the transition from students to alumni, we hope that you will look back fondly at your time at UT-Austin. We also hope that you will stay in touch and stay involved!

We know our graduates are heading out into the world to do great things. Let us know if you need any help along the way, or just send us a note when you get there. We'd love to help you brag! If you have not yet let us know of your future plans, we encourage you to complete an exit survey and continue to keep us updated. To notify us of changes to your contact information and fill us in on your personal and professional successes, contact Stephanie Palmer at stephanie.palmer@mail.utexas.edu or 512.471.0617.

Good luck in all of your future endeavors, and we hope to see you again soon!

ALUMNI UPDATES

According to the Architectural Record web site review of the recent Pechu Kucha Night in Austin, "architects Thomas Bercy [B.Arch./B.Arch.Eng. '00] and Calvin Chen [B.Arch. '98], principals of Bercy Chen Architects, impressed the crowd with their varied projects on the boards. As one of Record’s Design Vanguard for 2006, these guys are ones to watch." (See related story on Austin Pechu Kucha Night below in "Faculty Scholarship" section.)

Bercy and Chen will present a lecture, "New Perspectives," on their firm's work on Thursday, June 7, at the Umlauf Sculpture Garden & Museum in Austin as part of the "Architecture at the Umlauf" lecture series. For information, call 512.779.7953.

Bruce Wrightsman [M.Arch. '05] has been a Senior Instructor for the College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Colorardo for the past two years. He has accepted a position at the School of Architecture at Montana State University in Bozeman, where he will be an Assistant Professor this fall.

Sonali Dave [B.S.I.D. '04] recently chaired IIDA GreenWorld 07, a sustainability forum for the Northwest design community. 300+ people attended the event held in Seattle on April 11. Ray Anderson, founder and chairman of Interface, Inc., was the keynote speaker for the evening. Anderson is recognized as one of the world’s most environmentally progressive chief executives.

Greenworld® supports and expands the education and awareness of sustainability, environmental concerns, and green building practices. The event, now in its 9th year, was created to bring together designers, architects, manufacturers, suppliers, and the people of the greater Northwest to learn more about the positive impact sustainable design can have on our fragile planet.

A portion of the proceeds benefitted Eaglemont Press, a company dedicated to educating children about sustainability through imaginative children’s literature and interactive presentations. For more information, see: http://www.iida-northernpacific.org/events/eventdetail.aspx?eventID=41&navid=greenworld.

Following a seven-month national search, Reed Kroloff [M.Arch. '86] was appointed director of Cranbrook Academy of Art and Art Museum http://www.cranbrook.edu/, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, effective September 1, 2007. Currently dean of the Tulane University School of Architecture and the former editor-in-chief of Architecture magazine, Kroloff will succeed Gerhardt Knodel, who is retiring from the Academy after more than 30 years of service.

During his tenure at Tulane, Kroloff had a significant impact on the school. He arrived there one year before Hurricane Katrina and helped lead the School to recovery and prominence in the post-storm environment, including raising $3 million in gifts and research grants; retaining 97% of the School's students and 100% of its faculty after the storm; and playing a significant role in citywide planning and rebuilding efforts. He was the recipient of the American Academy in Rome's 2003 Rome Prize Fellowship.

Before joining Architecture in 1995, Kroloff taught at Arizona State University, where he was a tenured professor and the assistant dean. At ASU, he received the first-ever "Award for Academic Excellence" from the Arizona chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

Through his practice, Jones/Kroloff Design Services, Kroloff advises a range of institutions on architect selection and design strategy. His clients have included, among others, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Ministry of Culture of the Federal Government of Mexico, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Cleveland Museum of Contemporary Art, the University of Connecticut, the History Channel, and Detroit's Motown Center Project.

Kroloff lectures widely and is a regular visiting critic at architecture schools and professional organizations across the country. He holds degrees from UT-Austin and Yale University and has practiced architecture in Texas and Arizona.

ALUMNI RECEPTION AT THE AIA CONVENTION

On Thursday, May 3, a record crowd of alumni from the class of 1948 to the class of 2006 gathered at Lucifer Lighting Company in San Antonio for a cocktail reception. Thanks to all of the alumni from across the country who joined us and to Gilbert and Suzanne Mathews and the staff of Lucifer Lighting Company for hosting us. We hope you will join us for next year's AIA alumni gathering in Boston!

ALUMNI CONNECTIONS

The School of Architecture is continuing its effort to find (and maintain) the most accurate contact information for all of our alumni. From young alumni receptions to 50-year reunions, and everything in between, we hope you will stay in touch. Would you like to mentor a student? Do you need to hire a fellow Longhorn? Looking for networking or continuing education opportunities? We can help, but we need to know how to reach you!

Alumni may update their records, contact preferences, and search for fellow graduates by logging on to the University's online alumni directory at http://www.texasexes.org/online/update_address.asp. Also, if you received an invitation to our alumni reception in San Antonio but forgot to send in your reply card, we hope you will take a moment to send us your updates by mail. Or, you may always contact Stephanie Palmer, Alumni Relations Director at stephanie.palmer@mail.utexas.edu or 512-471-0617.

Thanks for helping us improve our relationship with you. We look forward to hearing from you!

FRIENDS OF ARCHITECTURE

Friends of Architecture is traveling to New Orleans this weekend for an exclusive look at the return of the Crescent City. If you are missing out on this unique and educational architectural experience, you will want to mark your calendars for FOA's 2007-08 schedule of tours.

• November 3, 2007 - Austin, Texas
• February 9-11, 2008 - Palm Springs, California
• July 2008 - Seattle, Washington
• November 2008 - San Antonio, Texas

For details on FOA membership or to secure your spot on any of our upcoming tours, visit http://www.friendsofarchitecture.org.

SUPPORT UTSOA

Private support for the School of Architecture is a crucial component of our ability to recruit and retain the highest caliber faculty and students. It's easier than ever to support the School of Architecture and our many programs and centers. Please visit our secure online giving page at: https://utdirect.utexas.edu/nlogon/vip/ogp.WBX?menu=AT.

For more information, contact Assistant Dean for Development Julie Hooper at jhooper@austin.utexas.edu or 512.471.6114.

RETIREMENT PHOTO ALBUM

Retiring professors Dan Leary, Gerlinde Leiding, and Richard Swallow were recently honored at a celebration at the Moore/Andersson Compound in Austin. To view some highlights of the event, visit: http://soa.utexas.edu/people/retirement2007.

CONTACTS

In this fast-paced world, there's a lot of news to keep up with. We know you are doing great things, and we rely on you to tell us your story. Students, faculty, and staff may send updates to eNews editor Pamela Peters at p.peters@mail.utexas.edu. Alumni, please send your news and contact updates to Alumni Relations Director Stephanie Palmer at stephanie.palmer@mail.utexas.edu.

UT-Austin School of Architecture
soa.utexas.edu

Dean's Office
512.471.1922, fax 512.471.0716

Center for American Architecture and Design
christinewong@mail.utexas.edu, 512-471-9890

Center for Sustainable Development
utcsd@mail.utexas.edu, 512.475.8013

Assistant Dean for Development
Julie Hooper, jhooper@austin.utexas.edu, 512.471.6114

Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Programs
Jeanne Crawford, jcraw@mail.utexas.edu, 512.471.0109

Graduate Program Coordinator
Rosemin Gopaul, gopaul@austin.utexas.edu, 512.471.0134

Publications Editor
Pamela Peters, p.peters@mail.utexas.edu, 512.471.0154

Director Friends of Architecture and Alumni Relations
Stephanie Palmer, stephanie.palmer@mail.utexas.edu, 512.471.0617

Career Placement Director
Carrie O'Malley, carrie.omalley@austin.utexas.edu, 512.471.1333

Materials Lab
http://soa.utexas.edu/matlab, 512.232.5969

Architecture and Planning Library
www.lib.utexas.edu/apl/, 512.495.4620

Director of Photography
Charlotte Pickett, c.pickett@mail.utexas.edu

Webmaster
Christopher Rankin, crankin@mail.utexas.edu, 512.495.4620

UTSOA Mailing Address
The University of Texas at Austin
School of Architecture
1 University Station B7500
Austin, TX 78712-0222