MEMBER SERVICE AWARDS
A Celebration of Better Illinois Communities by Design
The AIA Illinois Honor Awards recognize people and projects epitomizing the contributions of the architecture profession, the transformative power of design, and the dedication of individuals to service and excellence. All award winners have positively impacted citizens throughout the state of Illinois by helping create communities in which people are drawn to live and work, and to live healthier and happier.
Gold Medal for Outstanding Lifetime Service
2022: Larry Livergood, FAIA
“Architects, by nature of their education, artistic talents, and problem‐solving abilities, are highly visionary individuals," Livergood said in his fellowship nomination. "It is time we lend our unique visionary skills to the rest of the world through community involvement and leadership.”
Larry Livergood, FAIA is managing partner of Architectural Expressions, LLP. "AEX uses a balanced approach, integrating free form creativity with hard-lined engineering and architectural detailing. Through design excellence, our team is dedicated to making your environment a better place to live, work and play."
He graduated a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies in 1981 from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), and a Master of Architecture (MArch) in 1983.
Livergood served as President, AIA Decatur (1987), President, AIA Central Illinois (1994), President, AIA Illinois (1998), Chairman, AIA Illinois/State of Illinois Health Facilities Permit Review Task Force (2001), Regional Director for Illinois, AIA National Board (1999-2001), AIA National Secretary (2002-2004), AIA Trust (2006-2010, Chair, 2010), among many others for the American Institute of Architects (AIA).
From His Fellowship Nomination:
"Larry has led the Institute (for decades) as President and Treasurer of AIA Central Illinois, President of AIA Illinois, and as a National Regional Director and Institute Secretary. Over the years he has actively, efficiently, and energetically advanced AIA legislative policy, improved AIA member services, elevated AIA member stature, and enhanced AIA membership programs and benefits. The National Component continues to seek Livergood’s advice and expertise on issues of membership benefits and component relations."
As AIA National Secretary, Livergood brought awareness to the needs and activities of overseas chapters through improved communication between AIA National and its international members.
From a Letter of Support:
"Larry was a part of the ongoing leadership team for the later years of my tenure. He never expected anything in return beyond the satisfaction of giving back to his chosen profession."
"When our volunteers needed a trusted colleague to sort out the challenges that come from taking time to be involved in AIA and how it fits into the arc of a career, Larry was an unofficial leadership coach able to speak with candor and from experience for people who were looking to be consequential in their role. A word from Larry Livergood was memorable."
2021 Robert I. Selby, FAIA
2019 John Ochoa, AIA
2018 Linda Searl, FAIA
2017 Gaines Hall, FAIA
2016 James L. Nagle, FAIA and John F. Hartray, FAIA
2015 Carol Ross Barney, FAIA
2014 R. Thomas Jaeger, AIA
2012 Gary W. Anderson, AIA
2010 Donald J. Hackl, FAIA
2009 Walter J. Hainsfurther, III, FAIA
2008 Stanley Tigerman, FAIA
2007 Louis J. Garapolo, FAIA
2006 John M. Syvertsen, FAIA
R. Buckminster Fuller Award for Social Good
For Illinois architects involved in humanitarian, social impact or community endeavors
2022: Gary W. Anderson, AIA
Gary W. Anderson, AIA, is the founder and principal architect of Studio GWA in Rockford, Ill. Since 1982, he's been improving quality of life through design.
Throughout his career, Gary W. Anderson has devoted himself not only to preservation architecture, but also to rejuvenating downtown neighborhoods. To him, preservation is part and parcel of a revitalized community; it is a means of respecting a community’s heritage and engaging the community to create active places that can be enjoyed for generations to come.
Gary’s advocacy and professional experience have been intertwined since the beginning of his career. Seeing the rampant demolition of historic buildings in the 1960s and 70’s, Gary sought to develop a municipal policy that would halt short-sighted decisions. He co-wrote the Historic Preservation Ordinance in 1979 which still guides the City of Rockford Historic Preservation Commission on how to preserve and care for architecturally significant buildings and neighborhoods.
Gary’s ability to connect with a broad range of stakeholders has been profoundly impactful, resulting not only in successful building projects but also in making the historic architectural field more accessible to the public. His dexterity is shown both off- and on-stage, ranging from legislative presentations on the importance of Historic Tax Credits to neighborhood walking tours show-casing historic buildings that tell our past and shape our future.
Gary believes that education is paramount in preserving the past and making it accessible to future generations. You can hear the reverence in Gary’s voice as he guides a sold out historic walking tour in downtown Rockford. Community members leave the tour with more information and pride for the city than they had when they arrived, all because Gary took a personal approach to showcase the possibilities the city has to offer.
In his five decades of advocacy and professional experience, Gary has combined passion with perseverance to accomplish a multitude of revitalization projects in the Rockford region. Notably, his leadership in saving a Rockford high-rise landmark from demolition and subsequently finding a developer to create an $88 million dollar development was an exceptional endeavor, bringing a nearly 40-year quest for a downtown hotel to a fitting conclusion.
Gary’s leadership transcends beyond historic preservation and includes a number of successful neighborhood stabilization and revitalization projects. Gary has worked with public and private stakeholders to create the Transform Rockford Great Neighborhoods initiative, which empowers neighbors to identify and build upon the assets that make their neighborhood unique. His passion to create viable, productive neighborhoods led to the creation of the Northern Illinois Land Bank, an entity created to help stabilize property values, bring properties back onto the tax rolls, and provide a meaningful alternative to blight beyond demolition.
2021 Shabbir Y. Chandabhai, Assoc. AIA
2020 Dave Gerald Broz, AIA
2019 Bryan Hudson, AIA
2017 Lamar Johnson, FAIA
2016 Helen J. Kessler
2015 Nora Ames & Katie Soven
2014 Philip J. Enquist, FAIA
2013 Charles R. Newman, AIA
2012 Katherine Darnstadt, AIA
2010 Jon Daniel Davey, AIA
2009 Kevin K. Pierce, AIA
2008 Douglas Milburn, Assoc. AIA
2007 Martha A. Bell, AIA
2006 Peter Lind, AIA
John Wellborn Root for Emerging Professionals
2022: Calli Verkamp, AIA
Calli Verkamp, a Project Architect at Wheeler Kearns Architects in Chicago, has proven herself to be a civic and professional leader in a relatively short time. She leads by example, enriching communities through her volunteer efforts and design skills.
Professionally, Calli served as Project Architect for The Momentary in Bentonville, Arkansas – a multidisciplinary visual and performing arts venue creatively repurposed from a 70-year-old decommissioned cheese processing plant. After four years of development, The Momentary opened to acclaim in 2020 and has garnered five awards, including an AIA Chicago Distinguished Building Award and a World Architecture News Award for Adaptive Reuse. Calli successfully won the trust of numerous stakeholders and led all aspects of the project, transforming a former industrial complex into an anchor of a new cultural district. Calli subsequently served as Project Architect for a recently completed parking garage constructed south of the Momentary Green, an outdoor concert venue that hosts music festivals for 4,000 audience members.
A native Arkansan, she attended the Fay Jones School of Architecture at the University of Arkansas, which distinguished her in 2019 with the Early Career Alumni Award by the Fay Jones School of Architecture + Design. Verkamp is a LEED accredited professional and is a licensed architect in the States of Illinois and Arkansas. Editors have recognized her work in six different publications.
Prior to The Momentary, Calli served as Project Architect for the inaugural home of The Chicago Children's Theatre, which opened in 2017. The LEED Gold project entailed the transformation of an abandoned 1947 police station into a community venue with a 149-seat studio performance space, classrooms, and administration space. Calli also served as Project Architect for the award-winning Wicker Park Residence. This modern home reinterprets traditional materials and detailing to preserve the historic street experience while meeting the clients' aesthetic desires.
Calli has consistently volunteered for several mentorship organizations during her career including Girl Forward, a not- for-profit helping refugee girls resettled in Chicago, and Big Brothers Big Sisters. In her Chicago neighborhood, she serves as a Director for Roscoe Village Neighbors.
At the intersection of her volunteer and professional efforts, she has mentored young professionals at AIA Chicago and aspiring high school students for ACE (Architecture Construction Engineering) Chicago. In addition, she currently serves as a Director for AIA Chicago and co-chairs their Technical Issues Knowledge Committee.
2019 Damon Wilson, AIA
2016 Marc Teer, AIA
2015 Alexander P. Block, AIA
2014 Adam Lund, AIA
2013 April Hughes, AIA
2012 Jack Schroeder, AIA
2010 Brian J. Vitale, AIA
2009 Julianne Scherer, AIA
2008 Jeff Huck, AIA
2007 Mark J Ladd, AIA
2006 Lilija B. Gelazis, AIA
Nathan Clifford Ricker Award for Architecture Education
2022: Chip von Weise, AIA
As director of Virginia Tech’s Chicago Studio since 2006 and a participant since 2004, Mr. von Weise has been contributing to the education of fourth-year architecture students in Chicago for 18 years. Working with previous directors he helped teach, mentor and host students in the firm as well as help develop the basic outline of the current Chicago Studio curriculum. Since taking over as director in 2016, he has been teaching a design lab and building technology seminar aimed at delivering a fourth-year integrated studio curriculum that merges the intellectual rigor of an academic design studio with the urban and technical issues of building real architecture in Chicago.
Through a network of collaborators in Chicago, they leverage the knowledge and experience of a wide range of design professionals who work with students to develop design projects as if they were coming out of a professional office.
In addition, by teaming with local developers, the City of Chicago Planning Department and local aldermen and neighborhood groups, students wrestle with the complexities of diversity, equity, fairness in housing, relationships between the public and private domains, sustainability, wellness and other issues germane to building in a city. And they do this while not giving up the rich intellectual and conceptual dialogue inherent in any good academic studio discourse. Thus, they leave the program better suited to both succeed in their fifth-year thesis, and better prepared to enter the profession upon graduation.
2020 Curtis J. Sartor, Jr., Assoc. AIA
2019 Linda Nelson Keane, AIA
2017 Dan Wheeler, FAIA
2014 Mark Taylor, Assoc. AIA
2013 Al Rusch, AIA
2010 Jack A. Kremers, AIA
2009 Michael Andrejasich, AIA
2008 Constantine D. Vasilios, AIA
2007 Robert I. Selby, FAIA
2006 Anne Sullivan, AIA
Alan Madison Award for Diversity Work
Photo by Dave Burk | SOM
2022: Tiara Hughes, Assoc. AIA
A St. Louis native, now based in Chicago, Tiara Hughes is a Senior Urban Designer at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), a Commissioner with the City of Chicago Landmarks Commission, a NOMA National Board Member, and founder of FIRST 500, a global platform dedicated to elevating and celebrating Black women architects.
As a designer, Tiara creates work that emphasizes greater socioeconomic equity and cultural awareness. She believes "Ultimately our efforts to positively impact communities of color will expand outward and evolve our academic institutions, our firms, our industry and by extension, our communities."
At SOM, Tiara’s work in developing an RFP with the City of Chicago and Chicago Central Area Committee for the Auburn Gresham 79th Street corridor will reinvest crucial assets and commercial opportunity into a community on Chicago’s South Side. Her contributions to the Atlanta University Campus Framework Plan for the Atlanta University Center Consortium will establish a new innovation and research center for Black leadership at the local, regional and national level. Tiara led the design process for the Englewood Connect master plan, part of the City of Chicago’s INVEST South/West initiative to uplift and revitalize underinvested communities on Chicago’s South and West Sides.
Since 2020, Tiara has been one of the firm’s leaders in diversity, equity and inclusion reform. As the Equity Action Committee (EAC) Founding Co-Chair, she oversees the EAC’s mission to foster a more inclusive and equitable environment. Tiara’s also supports the newly-founded Equity Design Lab, an incubator to define and develop SOM’s framework for equitable design, exploring how equitable practices can be embedded into building projects from the outset, in order to deliver better outcomes for our communities. Equity Design Lab is centered around community-led development projects that promote equity and justice, facilitate access and upward economic mobility, and spark community revitalization through strategic, equitable, sustained partnerships.
Tiara's personal experiences in the industry along with her passion for advocacy led her to establish FIRST 500 in 2018. As the founder and executive director of FIRST 500, Tiara raises awareness of the importance of Black women architects throughout history and their contributions to the built environment. Through robust programming and resources, Tiara continues to advocate on behalf of a more diverse and inclusive industry by infinitely increasing licensed Black women architects, and cultivating the next 500.
Tiara is a 2019 AIA Chicago Bridge Fellow and in 2021, received the prestigious AIA Associates Award. In 2022, she received Landmark Illinois’ Influencer Award for her progressive and inclusive efforts to preserve the built environment and advance the design industry.
2020 Maya Bird-Murphy, Assoc. AIA
2019 Danielle Tillman, AIA
2017 Walter D. Street III, AIA
2016 Oswaldo Ortega, AIA
2014 Eben C. Smith, AIA, NCARB, NOMA, RRO
2013 Aurelien Tsemo, AIA
2012 Kenneth E. Casey, AIA
President's Award
2022: Pullman National Monument and State Historic Site
The Pullman National Monument and State Historic Site was selected for the 2022 President’s Award, in recognition of the collective leadership of several groups and their efforts to preserve, protect, and restore the Historic Pullman District and for advancing the District to National Monument status. They are to be commended for the positive impact this status has, and will continue to have, on the community, as well as elevating the importance of protecting unique architecture.
• National Parks Conservation Association – Lynn McClure, Senior Director Regional Programs, National Parks Conservation Association | Mary O’Connor, National Parks Conservation Association, D.C. Chapter
• Chicago Neighborhood Initiative - Jennifer Bransfield, Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel at Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, Inc.
• National Parks Service - Teri Gage, Superintendent, Pullman National Monument
• National A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum - Dr. Lyn Hughes, Founder | David A. Peterson, Jr., Executive Director
• The Pullman Civic Organization - Tom McMahon, Director
• Illinois Department of Natural Resources - Erick Huck, Planning and
Project Manager
• Historic Pullman Foundation – Julian Jackson, Executive Director | Joe Szabo, President
• National Park Foundation - Will Shafroth, President and CEO
• Smith + Gill – Richard Wilson, Assoc. AIA, VP of Historic Pullman Foundation
2021 Arquitectos, Chicago Women in Architecture (CWA), and I-NOMA
2020 Chicago Architecture Biennial - Student Design Competitions
2019 Wright in Kankakee: The Bradley House
2018 Landmarks Illinois
2017 PechaKucha Chicago
2016 AEC Cares
2015 National Council of Architectural Registration Boards
2013 archi-treasures
2012 Public Building Commission of Chicago
2010 Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLP's Chicago office
2009 Environmental Law and Policy Center
2007 Healthy Schools Campaign by the Illinois State Board of Education
2006 Illinois Historic Preservation Agency
2004 Kevin Sido, Esq.
2003 Illinois Building Research Council
2002 Mayor Karen Hasara, City of Springfield
2001 Corda Murphy, AIA Northeast Executive Director
2000 Albert W. Voirin, AVA Insurance Agency
1998 Newhouse Architecture Competition, Chicago Architecture Foundation
1997 Attorney General Jim Ryan
1996 Lawrence Kirkegaard, Hon. AIA
1995 Alice Sinkevitch, Hon. AIA
1994 Illinois Historic Preservation Agency
1992 James Nowacki, Esq.
1991 Graham Foundation
1990 Chicago Architecture Foundation
1989 Landmarks Preservation Council
1988 Women's Architectural League
1987 Gary J. Skoien
1986 Shirley Norvell, Hon. AIA
1985 Museum of Science & Industry
1984 Chicago Architectural Assistance Center
Richard Nickel Award for Non-Architects
For (non-architect) citizens who lift up architecture and the profession
2021: Krisann Rehbein
As the Executive Director of ACE Mentor Program of Chicago, she oversees program operations for the organization. Working with a dynamic and committed core of volunteers from the architecture, construction and engineering industries, the program provides out-of-school programming for 300 teens annually, gives out over $150k in scholarships and 60 paid summer work experiences.
Prior to joining ACE Mentor, Krisann spent over a decade at the Chicago Architecture Foundation. During her tenure, she implemented city-wide programming for teens, piloted a fully funded community outreach initiative, placed over 150 students in paid internships, and developed a suite of new adult programs to expand the conversation about the built environment in Chicago. She spearheaded and directed a major institutional project, the development and writing of a textbook to teach high school students about architecture published as The Architecture Handbook: A Student Guide to Understanding Buildings. The award-winning curriculum is part of the official career curriculum for the Chicago Public Schools and is used in schools across the country.
Jury Comments:
Krisann’s career represents a mission of this award - to celebrate those who lift up architecture and the profession. Among her achievements: Krisann’s long-term commitment that engages youth to learn about the fields of design and construction, promotes opportunities to discover their interests, and working with industry professionals to help support that learning and discovery, all deserve this recognition.
2020 David Doig
2019 Mike Waldinger, Hon. AIA
2018 Lynn Osmond, Hon. AIA
2017 Corda Murphy
2014 Ida "Pinky" Noll
2012 Gianfranco Grande
2009 Shirley J. Anderson, Hon. AIA
Charles W. Nothnagel Award for Public Service
For Illinois architects involved in public service
2021: Karen Shoup, AIA
Karen Shoup's career in Public Service encompasses multiple communities, agencies, programs and initiatives spanning over 34 years.
As a Subject Matter Expert, Karen is currently working with the United States Virgin Islands Department of Public Works/ Witt O'Brien's hurricane recovery team to rebuild the four islands of the Territory. As Bureau Chief of Urban Program Planning for the Illinois Department of Transportation, Karen led the development of the Illinois Long Range Transportation Plan, Transforming Transportation for Tomorrow. Focusing on State Capital Planning, Karen served as Associate Director for the Governor's Office of Management and Budget. This required development of the annual Capital Budget for the State of Illinois. Karen was responsible for building the legislation and implementation of Governor Quinn's Illinois Jobs Now and Jump Start capital programs. School Construction and planning has been a focus for Karen. As Supervisor at the Illinois State Board of Education and Administrator of School Construction at CDB, Karen led the development of a 6 billion dollar school construction, school energy efficiency, maintenance grant programs and the development of guidelines for communities. She also served on the Springfield RUDAT, Habitat for Humanity Board, AIA Illinois and Prairie Chapter Boards.
Jury Comments:
Karen has served our profession well, not just in her roles at the Capital Development Board and Illinois Department of Transportation, but also in her service to the AIA. She has served on committees, both state and chapter boards and is the current AIA Prairie President, guiding the chapter (even through a pandemic) with strength and vision. Karen is a deserving recipient of this award.
2019 Scott Nacheman, AIA
2017 Jim Law, FAIA
2016 Holly Gerberding, FAIA
2015 Michael A. Dixon, FAIA
2014 Gracia Maria Shiffrin, AIA
2012 Mike Jackson, FAIA
2010 Martin A. Alblinger, AIA
2009 Edward K. Uhlir, FAIA
2008 Paul W. O'Shea, FAIA
2007 Enrique Unanue, Illinois Department of Public Health
2006 Michael Rogers, AIA