School of Landscape Architecture & Planning Rankings & Awards

Alumnus Edward Marley, FAIA, B.Arch ’82, received CAPLA’s Distinguished Service Award and FCARM Presidential Medal for advancing architectural licensure, leadership, and education, including renegotiating the North American Tri-National Agreement.

Ladd Keith, associate professor of planning, has received the 2026 University of Arizona Convergence Award for Excellence in Applied Research and Engineering for his interdisciplinary work advancing heat planning, policy and governance.

CAPLA students earned top honors at the AZASLA Awards Gala, including awards for Cycles of Renewal and Watermark’s Re-imagined Therapeutic Garden. Recognized for excellence in landscape architecture.

CAPLA posthumously honors Donald Baker, MRED ’14, as its 2026 Alumnus of the Year, a visionary developer whose influence on Southern Arizona and the university community continues to resonate long after his passing.

The Western Planner organization has named CAPLA Associate Professor Ladd Keith its 2025 Planner of the Year, honoring his pioneering leadership in climate-responsive planning and community resilience across the American West.

A team of Master of Science in Urban Planning (MSUP) students at CAPLA received the Arizona APA’s Best Student Planning Project Award for their capstone, “Community Investment Strategy Toolkit for the City of South Tucson.”

CAPLA Dean Nancy Pollock-Ellwand has been named a recipient of the University of Guelph Alumni of Honour Award, recognizing her global leadership in cultural heritage conservation and lifelong dedication to education.

A team led by CAPLA’s Sandra Bernal Cordova, Altaf Engineer, and Ladd Keith aim to develop community-centered solutions to the growing threat of extreme heat.

As Montse Estrany Bover graduates with a Master of Science in Architecture from CAPLA, she leaves with a prestigious research award for her thesis on Catalunya’s historic agricultural landscapes. Now working at an architecture firm in Spain, she plans to pursue a Ph.D. to continue blending research and practice.

More than 40 landscape architecture students were recognized for showcasing exceptional talent and innovation during the Arizona Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects Awards Gala & Expo.

An interdisciplinary team of faculty and students from the College of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture (CAPLA) and the College of Humanities has been named a finalist in the international 2024 ArcGIS StoryMaps Competition.

Master of Landscape Architecture students Annalise Hummel, Christian Aguilar Murrieta and Cordell Lee were honored for highlighting the need for smart watering solutions to support tree planting as a cost-effective way to mitigate urban heat.