2025 Fellows: Byron W. Sampson, FASLA, Arizona Chapter

Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
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Byron Sampson's stellar 45-year career has been focused on creating sustainable design solutions that are anchored in a strong sense of place. Over the past 20 years, Byron's role in working with other design professionals has been to guide, shape, and transform solutions to meet the needs of the community. His long record of collaborative works has resulted in numerous award-winning projects. His impact is especially great at Arizona State University, where his appointment as the first university landscape architect led to a transformation of the five campus landscapes, shifting them from a "resort oasis" aesthetic to one firmly rooted in the principles of the Sonoran Desert. He implemented a new site amenity standard that addresses visual character, material palettes, furnishings, on-site multimodal transit, lighting, and wayfinding and accommodates the university's commitment to sustainability, innovation, local sourcing of materials, and reducing the institution's carbon footprint. Byron also developed a public art master plan and created a tree bank initiative. Because of his passionate belief in the need to remove turf from the campuses, he was a founding member of the ASU Sustainable Urban Ecology group and was part of a new multi-departmental design narrative to guide future landscape design solutions. At the onset of the COVID pandemic, Byron was tasked with developing outdoor rooms for on-site classes for alternative learning. After his team identified four sites on the Tempe campus, he led a massive coordination effort to secure and place 250 tables, 1,000 chairs, 300 benches, and four shade structures. Byron was chair of the City of Phoenix Historic Preservation Commission for two consecutive terms and is a board member of the Black Landscape Architect Network.