Being the son of an architect conceivably started Don Roberts on his illustrious career path that besides landscape architecture, included stops as a landscape contractor to Hollywood's elite such as Katherine Hepburn, David Niven and Walt Disney, and as an educator at one of the nation's most prestigious universities. But another influence was working on a UNESCO malaria control project in Central America where he unfortunately became afflicted by the disease.

In the 1950's, Don led the aforementioned landscape maintenance firm and for a while, worked at Courtland Paul's distinguished firm. He then founded his own company; designing master plans for various Southern California cities and becoming the resident Landscape Architect for one them; Thousand Oaks. In 1957, Don helped form the American Institute of Landscape Architects, and in 1958, became a registered Landscape Architect.

The world of academics came calling and answering it in 1967, Don became a lecturer for UCLA's Department of Art, Design and Art History, where he started the university's extension program in landscape architecture and was acknowledged as having "impacted professionals worldwide."

 

As an example of this, a Cornell, Bridgers, & Troller-designed sculpture garden at UCLA, which was cited as "a dramatic departure from the beaux arts designs of the Mission Revival period," became a favorite training tool of his.

Howard Troller, the chief designer of the showpiece, recounts, "Don used that garden to usher in a new breed of Landscape Architects."

In 1974 he was put in charge of landscape architectural studies at the University of Redlands but remained on the faculty at UCLA, eventually retiring from there in 1986, already having retired from Redlands with emeritus status in 1981.

Another big accomplishment was The World Directory of Landscape Architects, a compilation of some 23,000 professionals in over 90 countries which, in 1988, was the first of its kind in the industry. Don was the editor and was known to have personally contacted many of the people and businesses listed.

Other career honors included being elected a fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, becoming international president of the American Institute of Landscape Architects, and participating in the International Federation of Landscape Architects.

Ken Nakaba, who taught with Don at UCLA and eventually became chairman of the Department of Landscape Architecture at Cal Poly Pomona remembers him as "an engaging teacher who worked well with students. His inquisitive nature rubbed off on me and gave me new directions."

Click here to see this entry in the LASN 40th Anniversary Timeline.

As seen in LASN magazine, July 2025.