ASLA reveals 2023 Honors Recipients for achievements in landscape architecture

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has just announced its crop of 2023 Honors Recipients as selected by the board of trustees.

The group of ten firms and individual practitioners recognized this year joins a group of past honorees whose work is emblematic of the 124-year-old organization’s mission and core values. Eight Honorary Members from outside the profession were selected as well, adding to a total of 255 who have been inducted overall.

ASLA President Emily O’Mahoney said: "The ASLA honorees are the best of the best and represent what is possible in the field of landscape architecture. This is the highest recognition ASLA bestows each year. This year’s recipients join a rarified group; we celebrate and congratulate another standout class of honorees on their well-earned recognition."

The 2023 ASLA Honors Recipients are: 

• ASLA Medal: Patricia O'Donnell, FASLA, Heritage Landscapes, LLC
• ASLA Design Medal: James Corner, FASLA, James Corner Field Operations
• Community Service Award: Jim Donovan, FASLA
• Jot D. Carpenter Teaching Medal: Sadik Artunç, FASLA, Mississippi State University, Department of Landscape Architecture
• LaGasse Medal — Professional: Charles A. Flink II, FASLA, Greenways Incorporated
• LaGasse Medal — Nonprofessional: Steven N. Handel PhD, Hon. ASLA, Rutgers University
• Landscape Architecture Firm Award: Biohabitats
• ASLA Medal of Excellence: Jack Dangermond, Esri
• Olmsted Medal: The Cultural Landscape Foundation
• ASLA Emerging Professional Medal: Abigail Reimel, ASLA

Honorary ASLA Members:

• Senator Patrick Leahy
• Chelina Odbert
• Alcibiades Tsolakis
• Jared Green
• Diana Ferguson, Esq.
• Kristopher Pritchard
• Devon Henry
• Gilbert Holmes

"Landscape architects make the best of our world," said former Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy who was inducted as an honorary member this year. "During my years in the Senate, I looked out my window at the Washington Mall and could see the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial and ending at the Potomac. The landscape architects designed an image recognized throughout the world."

ASLA CEO Torey Carter-Conneen concurred, saying finally: "The 2023 ASLA honorees are changing the world through their approach to landscape architecture — and their work is needed now more than ever. In the face of increasingly dangerous weather events and biodiversity stressors, our honorees are using their diverse array of talents to design and create a healthier world and more equitable future for all people."