January 14, 2010
College of Built Environments and Capital Projects share in diversity award
Two UW groups collaborated with the Seattle chapter of the American Institute of Architects, resulting in a national award for efforts to diversify the profession of architecture.
The College of Built Environments and the UW Capital Projects Office co-sponsored projects put on by the Diversity Roundtable at Seattle AIA, which has won a Diversity Best Practice award from the American Institute of Architects.
“Capital Projects, the College of Built Environments and the Roundtable all have a stake in diversity but it’s only been in the last two or three years that they’ve collaborated,” said Doug Jennings, program manager for the UW Architect/Engineer Partnership Program, which encourages diversity among the architects and engineers the University works with.
The roundtable’s work this year included a women in architecture program held at Gould Hall last spring. Also, with Capital Projects the roundtable sponsored a certification fair for minority and women-owned architecture or engineering firms. Certification helps such firms receive contracts from public agencies.
The Seattle chapter of AIA each year awards the Marga Rose Hancock Endowed Scholarship for Diversity to a graduate architecture student at the UW. The late John Hancock retired as a UW professor of urban planning. In July, AIA Seattle and the College sponsored a fundraiser for that scholarship and the Denice Johnson Hunt Endowed Fund, which also encourages diversity.
