Contact: Sammy McDavid
More than 30 current and recently graduated students hold honors for outstanding achievements during their study in Mississippi State University's College of Architecture.
Established in 1973, the college is the only one of its kind in the state. Some 250 majors usually are enrolled in the five-year undergraduate curriculum; four in Starkville and a final year in Jackson to transition from an academic foundation to the profession's daily realities.
Since its beginning, the school has emphasized small towns and continually uses local and state locations as teaching tools--an emphasis that sets it apart from traditional urban-based programs. This regional focus has received praise on the local, state and national levels.
Graduates have distinguished themselves in advanced study at schools such as Harvard, Yale and Columbia, as well as in professional careers throughout the United States.
Presented their honors by college Dean James West, the outstanding 2003-04 architecture majors include (by hometown) [with additional information in brackets]:
BATON ROUGE, La.--Freshman Sarah L. Webb, receiving the $500 NOMAS Scholarship. She is the daughter of Janice Webb (ZIP 70810) and a 2003 graduate of Baton Rouge Magnet High School. [The honor is presented to an achieving architecture major completing the first-year design studio program.]
BELZONI--Sophomore Charlie J. Holmes, receiving the $1,000 Hoskins/Giattina Fisher Aycock Scholarship. He is a 2002 Humphreys County High School graduate and the son of Robert Holmes and Georgette Holmes. [Established in 2003 by college alumnus Creig B. Hoskins and others at the Birmingham, Ala., architecture firm of Giattina Fisher Aycock, the award recognizes a promising student from the North Delta region of Mississippi entering the college's design studio program.]
BILOXI--Junior Patrick C. Wilber, receiving a $750 Mississippi Concrete Industries Design Excellence Award. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Preston Wilber and a 2001 Biloxi High School graduate.
BRANDON--Incoming freshman Ian S. Clemmer, receiving the $3,000 Fred Carl Sr. Memorial Scholarship. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Mitch Clemmer and 2004 University Christian School graduate. [The scholarship was established by major college benefactor Fred Carl Jr., president of Greenwood-based Viking Range Corp., to honor his late father.]
CLARKSDALE--Junior Moses M. Sayles, receiving the $1,000 Matt L. Virden III Memorial Scholarship. He is the son of Katherine Russell and a 2002 Clarksdale High School graduate. [Established in 1994 by the M.L. Virden family to honor their late architect son, the annual scholarship is designated for a rising junior from any of 18 Mississippi Delta counties.]
CLINTON--Senior Charles D. "Chip" Jones, receiving the $1,000 Stephanie M. Pizzetta Endowed Scholarship. He is the son of Joye Brown and a 2001 Clinton High School graduate. [Pizzetta, a 1983 MSU architecture graduate who now is senior associate with the New York firm of Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer, established the scholarship in 2001 to honor a top student completing the second year of design studio training.]
CORINTH--Graduating senior Brandon C. Gowen, receiving the Tau Sigma Delta Bronze Medal. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Gowen and a 1997 Cornerstone Christian Academy graduate. [Tau Sigma Delta is the national honor society of architecture and applied arts; the medal recognizes a student whose final year of design work "most contributed to the expansion of architectural insight and awareness" of other majors.]
DAPHNE, Ala.--Senior Phillip L. Luse, receiving the $2,000 Mockbee Hall & Drake Scholarship. The son of Charles Luse and Kim Kern, he earlier attended the University of Montevallo. [The award was established in 2003 by David Mockbee and other members of his Jackson architectural firm to recognize an academically achieving student entering the fifth-year program where Mockbee also teaches.]
DESTREHAN, La.--Freshman Jessica M. Lovelady, receiving an American Institute of Architecture Students Award. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J.B. Lovelady and a Destrehan High School graduate. [Chosen by a vote of the college's AIAS chapter, the award honors a student "who goes above and beyond what has been asked, has demonstrated initiative and leadership qualities, has been an AIAS leader within the academic class, and is a scholastic achiever."]
DICKSON, Tenn.--Graduating senior Elena N. Poole, receiving the American Institute of Architects Henry Adams Medal. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Poole and a 1998 Dickson County High School graduate. [The AIA Adams medal recognizes "general excellence" and is the highest award presented to a bachelor's degree candidate by the college faculty.]
HUNTSVILLE, Ala.--Senior Laura M. Baker, receiving the $1,000 Boral Brick Design Award and $3,000 Brian MacKay-Lyons Scholarship. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dudley Baker (ZIP 35803) and a 1999 Huntsville High School graduate. [The award is provided by Boral Brick Inc., which has manufacturing facilities throughout the Southeast and Southwest. Made possible by college alumni Sam Tonos, Michael Baranco and Michael Speck, the scholarship supports one student's attendance at a summer design institute on the Nova Scotia farm of MacKay-Lyons, a Canadian architect and Dalhousie University professor.]
JACKSON--Junior John W. Algood, receiving the 2004 Architectural Foundation of Mississippi Design Excellence Award. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Terry Algood (ZIP 39211) and a 2000 Murrah High School graduate.
--Sophomore Katherine D. "Katie" Lightsey, receiving the Second Year Faculty Book Award in Design Excellence. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Mike Lightsey (ZIP 39211) and a 2002 St. Andrew's Episcopal School graduate. [The award recognizes one or more students "who have had the most influence on second-year design classes."]
JACKSON, Tenn.--Graduating senior Leigh Ann Harris, receiving a Jurists Award in Design Excellence. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Harris and a Jackson Central Merry High School graduate. [The award recognizes "students achieving the greatest personal growth as designers, and whose work has contributed to the overall success of the fifth-year program."]
KILLEN, Ala.--Graduating senior Christian J. Reed, receiving the American Institute of Architects Henry Adams Certificate. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Gary Reed and 1999 graduate of Tuscumbia Deshler High School. [The second-highest award given to a graduating senior, the AIA Adams Certificate recognizes "general excellence" throughout the required five years of study.]
KOSCIUSKO--Senior Karen A. Cauthen, receiving the $1,000 Charles H. Dean Jr. Endowed Scholarship. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John T. Cauthen and a 1999 Kosciusko High School graduate. [The scholarship was established by Jackson architect Richard Dean as a memorial to his late father.]
LELAND--Graduating senior Emily W. Poole, receiving a Jurists Award in Design Excellence. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Whetstone of Woodville and a 1996 Wilkinson County Christian Academy graduate. [The award recognizes "students achieving the greatest personal growth as designers, and whose work has contributed to the overall success of the fifth-year design studio."]
LUCEDALE--Junior Lance Eubanks, receiving a $750 Mississippi Concrete Industries Association Design Excellence Award. He is a 2001 George County High School graduate and the son of David Eubanks and Edie Hale.
--Senior Jason T. Hoeft, receiving the $2,000 Pella Traveling Fellowship. He is the son of Millie Hoeft and a 2000 graduate of Greene County High School in Leakesville. [Sponsored by the Iowa-based Pella Corp., the fellowship honors the winner of a semester-long design competition among fourth-year majors.]
LUMBERTON--Colby B. Dearman, receiving the Tau Sigma Chi Freshman Design Excellence Award. He is the son of Debra Dryman and a 2003 Purvis High School graduate. [Tau Sigma Delta is the national honor society of architecture and allied arts.]
MADISON--Entering freshman Brad Stubblefield, receiving the $1,000 Fulcher-Bailey Annual Scholarship. He is a 2004 Madison Central High School graduate and the son of Lee Stubblefield and Don Stubblefield. [The award is named for the late MSU alumnus Luther H. "Harry" Fulcher and Samuel M. Bailey (and their wives), founders of Jackson Stone Co.]
MERIDIAN--Senior Jason D. Labutka, receiving the ARCC/King Memorial Award. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. David Labutka and a 1998 Meridian High School graduate. [Recognizing "innovation, integrity and scholarship in architectural and/or environmental design research," the award is named for the late Jonathan King, co-founder and first president of the national Architectural Research Centers Consortium.]
NEW ORLEANS, La.--Senior Kemper B. Smith, receiving the Tau Sigma Delta/Calvo Memorial Digital Media Design Award. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Farrell Smith (ZIP 70114) and a 1999 Benjamin Franklin High School graduate. [Tau Sigma Delta is the national honor society of architecture and allied arts; Charles Calvo, who died in 2000 at age 42, directed the college's Digital Research and Imaging Laboratory.]
PENSACOLA, Fla.--Senior Robyn N. Clary [ZIP 32514], receiving the $2,000 Feffetti/Karnstedt Scholarship. She is a 2000 graduate of Pensacola Tate High School and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Speed, now of Katy, Texas. [Made possible by longtime MSU benefactors John and Jutta Ferretti of Shelby, the award was established in 2002 to recognize and encourage continued academic achievement and leadership among rising architecture majors.]
PHILADELPHIA--Junior Kyle Stribling, receiving a Mississippi Concrete Industries Design Excellence Award. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Larry Stribling and a 2001 Philadelphia High School graduate.
SALTILLO--Graduating senior Chris M. Root, receiving a Jurists Award in Design Excellence. A graduate of Saltillo High School and Itawamba Community College, he is the son of Greg Root and Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Jackson, all of Tupelo. [The award recognizes "students achieving the greatest personal growth as designers, and whose work has contributed to the overall success of the fifth-year program."]
--Senior Adam H.J. Smith, receiving the $500 Pryor & Morrow Endowed Scholarship. He is the son of Diane McLarry and a 2001 Tupelo Christian Academy graduate. [The scholarship is made possible by MSU alumnus Morrow, partner Roger Pryor and other employees of Pryor & Morrow Architects in Jackson.]
STARKVILLE--Senior Armando Garma-Fernandez, receiving an American Institute of Architecture Students Award. He earlier completed a bachelor's degree in art from MSU. [Chosen by a vote of the college's AIAS chapter, the award honors a student "who goes above and beyond what has been asked, has demonstrated initiative and leadership qualities, has been an AIAS leader within the academic class, and is a scholastic achiever."] [Family and school information not available.]
TISHOMINGO--Senior Justin J. Taylor, receiving an honorable mention certificate in the Pella Design Competition. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Gary Taylor and a 1999 Belmont High School graduate. [Sponsored by the Iowa-based Pella Corp., the competition is a semester-long challenge among fourth-year majors.]
TUSCALOOSA, Ala.--Graduating senior James S. "Stan" Gray, receiving the 2004 Alpha Rho Chi Medal. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. James Gray and a 1996 Hillcrest High School graduate. [Alpha Rho Chi is the professional fraternity for architecture majors; awarded by the architecture faculty, the medal recognizes "leadership, willing service the college and the promise of future professional merit through attitude and personality."]
--Junior Jennifer A. Hodges, receiving the $1,000 Hollomon Architects Scholarship. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Richardson and a 1996 Tuscaloosa Central High School graduate. [Designated for a top student entering the fifth-year program in Jackson, the award is made possible by Farrol D. "Bud" Hollomon, a 1984 MSU graduate and owner of Jackson-based Hollomon Architects.]
VICKSBURG--Incoming freshman Darrin L. Stewart, receiving the $1,000 T. Steven Davis Scholarship. He is the son of Sheila Stewart and a 2004 Warren Central High School graduate. [Davis, an MSU graduate now vice president of the Jackson architectural firm of Canizaro Cawthon Davis, established the award in 2001 to recognize a top minority student enrolling in the architecture program.]
--Senior Sirobe` D. Carstafhnur, receiving the $1,500 Studio South Architects Annual Scholarship. She is the daughter of Janice Carstafhnur and a 1999 Vicksburg High School graduate. [Honoring a top student entering the fifth-year program in Jackson, the award was established in 2001 by Taylor Guild III and Chet Allred, co-managers of the Mississippi Gulf Coast-based architectural firm.]