At the end of each academic year, the School of Architecture staff members coordinate and run an Awards Ceremony to honor the achievements of our graduating seniors and Masters students. This ceremony also acts as the induction of Tau Sigma Delta, the honor society for the architecture school. Several internal awards that are decided by faculty advisors are among the many distributed awards, as well as external recognitions from nationally recognized architecture organizations.
The event is overseen by Professor Patricia Andrasik, who has served as its emcee for the past several years. Herself, along with Lorenzo DeAlmeida and Katie Chmielewski ran this year’s event, from designing the certificates that were distributed, to writing and organizing the script, to assisting and directing the event day of. With the help of Cate Sullivan and Elizabeth Emerson, this year's ceremony was a success. Here are the awardees!
Tau Sigma Delta
The School of Architecture and Planning at The Catholic University of America is the home of the Beta Phi Chapter of the Tau Sigma Delta Honor Society. Tau Sigma Delta was organized 112 years ago in 1913. The values that the society stands for are implicit in the three Greek letters that name it. “Tau Sigma Delta”, which stands for Craftsman, Skilled and Trained. Membership in the Tau Sigma Delta honor society is the result of high scholastic standing, and it is an academic honor resulting from individual educational process. Through its institutional chapters and its grand chapter, Tau Sigma Delta acknowledges these efforts and has elevated the following students to their national community of excellence.
The newest members are:
Alexandra Bertapelle
Annemarie Donachie
Sarah Haeflinger
Grace Hausladen
Jillian Ingram
Haley Jackson
Luke Kelly
Samantha Mahoney
Charlotte Milbank
Elizabeth Sypal
Mark Pioch
Joseph Wolfe
Tau Sigma Delta Faculty advisor: Randy Ott
Stanley Hallet Sketchbook Awards
The Stanley Hallet Sketchbook Award celebrates and encourages freehand drawing in sketchbooks. Architect Darrel Ripeteau helped launch this award in honor of Professor Emeritus Stanley I. Hallet, who was Dean and taught at CUArch for over 25 years. Although retired, Stanley Hallet is still involved in the education of young architects both here and abroad.
This year, five winners were announced, and an award for Best Individual Sketch was introduced. Those winners are:
First Place: Joseph Wolfe
Second Place: Jillian Ingram
Third Place (tie): Paolo Gonzales and Dylan Robertson
Best Individual Sketch: Anna-Grace Williams
Special thanks to David Shove Brown and //3877 for their help with this year's awards.
External Awards
2024 COTE Award
The AIA COTE award is an international competition co-sponsored by the AIA and the ACSA that recognizes exceptional studio projects that integrate creative and innovative design strategies. Out of over one thousand entries, a student from the School of Architecture and Planning was selected as one of the ten winning projects for the third year. The winner of this award is Cole Hollier, for his project Harvest Hub.
The John Russell Pope Award
The John Russell Pope Award is awarded by The Institute of Classical Architecture & Art Washington Mid Atlantic Chapter (ICAA-WMA). It recognizes the best work of individuals who contribute to the creation of classical and traditional architecture and the allied arts within the Washington Mid Atlantic region. The winner is Ana Schluth, in recognition of her project An Entry Pavilion to Prospect Park.
Art Deco Society of Washington Competition
The Art Deco Society of Washington is a non-profit organization whose mission is to educate people about the art deco period of the twentieth century. This year, they introduced a fellowship that would be awarded to a student in the early stages of their professional career in an artistic discipline with the goal to support them throughout the duration of their education. The winner of their annual competition and the first recipient of their fellowship is Paul Zepeda.
Undergraduate Awards
The CUA Student Employee of the Year
Each year, in honor of Student Employment Week, the university selects one student worker out of the hundreds across all of the schools and departments to receive the CUA Student Employee of the Year award. This award recognizes a student worker who goes above and beyond their assigned duties, is a team player, while also maintaining good academic standing. This year, the recipient of this award was Charlie Marotta.
Alpha Rho Chi Medal for Leadership, Service and Professional Merit
The Alpha Rho Chi Medal is judged by the faculty of each school, honoring the graduating senior who has shown an ability for leadership, performed willing service for their school or department, and gives promise of real professional merit through their attitude and personality. This year’s Alpha Rho Chi medal was presented to Elisabeth D’Albero.
Benjamin T. Rome Award
Each year, the Benjamin T. Rome Award is given to the graduating undergraduate student who has earned a high GPA and has made an outstanding contribution to the school, university and community. The University holds a collective awards ceremony where they present this award to all in attendance. The recipient of this year’s Benjamin T. Rome Award was Elizabeth Sypal.
Nathan C. Wyeth Award
The Nathan C. Wyeth Award is presented to the student with the highest grade point average in Design Studios, starting from 101 up until their final design semester. This year's winner was Sarah Haeflinger.
The Paul A. Goettelmann Award
The Paul A. Goettelmann Award is given to the undergraduate student with the highest cumulative Grade Point Average in Architecture. The recipient of this year’s Undergraduate Award goes to Joseph Wolfe.
Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies: Ana Roman Andrino
Advising and Registration for Undergraduate and Graduate Students: Cate Sullivan
Graduate Awards
The Paul A. Goettelmann Award
The graduate student who is earning the Paul A. Goettelmann Award has earned not only a high grade point average, but also has an outstanding thesis project and placement in the Super Jury. The recipient of this year’s award went to Glenda Rojas Salazar.
AIA Medal for Academic Excellence
For more than a century, AIA has provided a medal of excellence to the top graduating students in National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) accredited programs who display "general excellence" throughout their academic career. The medal recipient had the highest graduated GPA and was nominated to be in Super Jury. The AIA Medal for Academic Excellence went to Grace Hausladen.
ARCC King Medal for Excellence in Architectural and Environmental Design Research
The ARCC King Medal recognizes outstanding thesis research and is the highest tier of recognition for internationally recognized scholarly architectural work, and it is selected by a general faculty vote. The winner was Victoria Volpi for her thesis project Bridging Divides A Vision for Equity and Renewal in the Wake of White Flight.
John Edward Dundin Memorial Prize
The John Edward Dundin Memorial Prize recognizes excellence in Thesis Project presentation, as well as achievement in graphic presentation of the complexities of a thesis project. This award is also decided by a collective faculty poll. This year, it is presented to Grace Hausladen.
David M. Schwarz Traveling Fellowship Award
The David M. Schwarz Traveling Fellowship Award is open to all graduate students who are one year from graduation from a few universities, including Catholic University. The award consists of a $7,500 stipend for travel and independent research during the summer of 2025, and a ten week paid internship with David M. Schwarz Architects in Washington, D.C. The winner of this year’s Fellowship is Olivia DiMattio.
Associate Dean of Graduate Studies: Tonya Ohnstad
Advising and Registration for Undergraduate and Graduate Students: Cate Sullivan
Concentration Awards
While pursuing their Masters, our graduate students have the opportunity to specialize in a concentration during their program. Our concentrations are directed by faculty who advise and teach their students, and they have each selected students from their concentration to be recognized for their excellence in design and research of their thesis projects.
Technology and Media in Architecture and Interiors Award
The Technology and Media in Architecture and Interiors Award recognizes projects that use various digital and fabrication technologies in an innovative fashion in the design or presentation of the project. The winner is Melissa Kazanci.
Director of Technology and Media in Architecture and Interiors Concentration: Lavinia Fici-Pasquina
Walton Distinguished Thesis Design Award
The Walton Distinguished Design Award recognizes the best project addressing the subject matter of the Sacred Space and Cultural Studies graduate concentration. The winners are Hunter Dawiczyk and Anna Scheffel.
Director of Sacred Space/ Cultural Studies Concentration: Ana Roman Andrino
Classical Concentration Director's Award
The Classical Concentration Director’s award recognizes truly exemplary, groundbreaking works of excellence in Classical Architecture and Urban Design together, recognizing works that exhibit excellence of thought, design, and execution. The winners are Sanaa Dukes and Victoria Riggle.
Director of Classical Architecture and Urbanism Concentration: Christopher J. Howard
Excellence in Urban Design Award
The Excellence in Urban Design Award recognizes a singular thesis project that demonstrates an innovative community-based approach in achieving excellence in architecture and urban design. The winner is Hunter Dawiczyk.
Director of Urban Design Concentration: jason Montgomery
Environmental Literacy Award
The Environmental Literacy Award recognizes one thesis student who exemplifies environmental ethics, technology and creativity towards reducing global carbon emissions through design excellence. The winners are Olivia DiMattio, Cole Hollier and Vincente Johnson.
Director of the Net Zero Design degree program: Patricia Andrasik
Certificate of Fortitude
The Certificate of Fortitude is granted to a staff member of the School of Architecture, recognizing a particular individual who has demonstrated impressive resilience and maintained amazing composure amid the vagaries of running an institution of architecture. Their role is expansive, from providing the technology for successful zoom calls to operating the school’s budget, from helping students with their plotting and 3D printing to providing a calming presence while sitting on juries, all simultaneously, yet all with a smile.
The Certificate of Fortitude is being given to this individual, a primary building entity, who has withstood the planning, politics, and execution of providing a seamless academic administration. That individual is Lorenzo DeAlmeida.
All photos from the event can be accessed here! Photos by Erika Nizborski.
Article by Katherine Chmielewski