The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has announced the 2022 Fellow recipients and we are thrilled to celebrate the elevation of three (3) of our members. Fellowship is among the highest honors the ASLA bestows on members and recognizes the contributions of these individuals to their profession and society at large based on their works, leadership and management, knowledge, and service. The designation of Fellow is conferred on individuals in recognition of exceptional accomplishments over a sustained period of time. This year's recipients from the New York Chapter are: Richard Alomar, Associate Professor, Department Chair, Graduate Program Director, Rutgers University, Jennifer L. Nitzky, Design Principal at Studio HIP Landscape Architecture, and Nancy Prince, Chief of Landscape Architecture, NYC Parks. All three will be elevated to ASLA Fellow in a special investiture ceremony at the 2022 Conference on Landscape Architecture on November 13, 2022 in San Francisco, California. A full listing of all 27 Fellow-elect members can be found at asla.org.

Chapter President Carl Carlson remarks, "On behalf of the New York Chapter of the ASLA, I would like to congratulate Richard Alomar, Jennifer Nitzky, and Nancy Prince on their elevations to Fellow. We are proud to have them among our membership and are grateful for the service that they have provided to the Landscape Architecture community."

Meet the New York Chapter ASLA Fellow-elect members:

 
Richard Alomar, ASLA
Associate Professor, Department Chair, Graduate Program Director, Rutgers University
Nomination for Service

Throughout his nearly three decades of practice, teaching, community engagement, and service, Richard Alomar successfully advocated for sketching as a space to view, engage, and build awareness of the beauty and complexity of the landscape. He helped transform Urban Sketchers from a group of a few hundred participants to over 300 international chapters with more than 200,000 followers, with a robust executive and advisory board, a digital magazine, sustainably funded grant programs, and sponsored partnerships with art suppliers and art institutions. Over the last decade Richard has led over 100 sketch walks with more than 2,000 participants-including those at ASLA conferences-and has published or contributed to over twenty articles and books on sketch?,??ing landscapes. His methods are followed by many ASLA chapters, landscape architecture pro?,??grams, and sketch groups around the world. Working with designers, students, and community groups, sketching has been the glue connecting education, advocacy, art, and engagement. Richard is an associate professor, department chair, and graduate program director at Rutgers University where he also directs the Rutgers Office of Urban Extension and Engagement and is a Core Faculty member on the Rutgers Global Health Institute. His work in the public sector, engagement with communities, and contributions to the ASLA-NY chapter, National ASLA, and New York State Education Board of the Professions have been long and consistent.

Jennifer L. Nitzky, ASLA
Design Principal, Studio HIP
Nomination for Service

For more than twenty-five years, Jennifer Nitzky has worked with numerous community groups and organizations to elevate the quality of life, advocate for urban green space and pollinator habitat, and raise awareness of the profession. Her service includes volunteer and pro bono work on ten different interdisciplinary organizations and boards. She has served on the Executive Committee of the New York Chapter of the ASLA for over ten years. Concurrently, she has served as a representative of the Chapter on the Fine Arts Federation of New York board, where she has helped the private, public, civic, and community sectors solve a range of important built environment issues-from advancing sustainability and stewardship practices to promoting more equitable spaces and design processes for diverse communities. At the City College of New York's Master of Landscape Architecture program, she has engaged with graduate students to advance the profession and support the program's diverse students. Jennifer was instrumental in the efforts to preserve the Russell Page Garden at the Frick Collection. Since 2018, Jennifer has served on the NYC Pollinator Working Group, educating the public about the importance of supporting native pollinators. Jennifer is an Urban Design Forum fellow, currently working on their Streets Ahead initiative to envision a more vibrant, equitable streetscape and with the New York City Public Design Commission, helped produce the forthcoming "Streetscapes for Wellness" guidelines. Jennifer's service to the profession cuts a wide swath as she has collaborated with many groups, elevated awareness of landscape architecture outside the profession, and inspired the next generation of environmental stewards.

Nancy Prince, RLA, ASLA
Chief of Landscape Architecture, NYC Parks
Nomination for Leadership/Management

Few landscape architects in the United States have had as much impact and reach as Nancy Prince. As the Chief of Landscape Architecture for NYC Parks, she leads 100 landscape architects and consultants to set a higher design standard-centered on excellence, innovation, accessibility, resilience, and sustainability-that affects every city resident who visits a park. Her professional portfolio encompasses 30,000 acres spread across 5,000 properties, accounting for fourteen percent of the land in a city of almost nine million people with a ten-year capital budget of $5.5 billion. During her thirty-six-year career, she has worked to ensure historically significant properties benefit from thoughtful preservation and sensitive design. Nancy has also taken a leadership team role in the $71 million Central Park 2000 renovation and as the city representative on the Hudson River Park Trust design committee. Nancy led NYC Parks on the Community Parks Initiative (CPI) to ensure equitable park access, particularly in historically underserved neighborhoods, transforming sixty-three spaces into centers of community activity set within significant new greenspace and trees. Nancy worked with the NYC Department of City Planning to create new open space design guidelines for private developers, addressing climate resiliency, material durability, access to public restrooms, and accessibility for the disabled. More mundane projects such as water pumping stations, ferry landings, and utility structures, have also become greener, more context sensitive, and more welcoming thanks to Nancy's work.

About the American Society of Landscape Architects, New York Chapter:

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is the national professional association for landscape architects. Founded in 1899, the association represents over 15,000 members and features 49 professional chapters and 76 student chapters. The New York Chapter, founded in 1914, encompasses the five boroughs of New York City, Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, and Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Orange and Rockland counties. The Society's mission is to lead in the planning, design and care of both our natural and built environments. While keeping pace with the ever-changing forces of nature and technology, landscape architects increasingly have a profound impact on the way people live, work and play.