Profile: Gary Dean Scott, FASLA

Company/academic title: Director of Parks and Recreation for the City of West Des Moines, Iowa

Education: Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1980 (with distinction)

Years in the profession: 27

ASLA chapter: Iowa Chapter

Category: Administrative Work

Most notable professional accomplishments: In the last 22 years, I have guided the growth of the parks and open space system in West Des Moines, Iowa, the primary western suburb of Des Moines. During this time, the City grew not only in size by 125% and in population by 123%, but also increased its parkland from 138 acres to 1222 acres (775%), the number of park sites from 8 to 33 (412%), and the miles of trails from zero to 45 miles. The development of this system has led to a 92% citizen satisfaction rate with West Des Moines' parks and recreation services, and played a role in being named in 2006 to Money Magazine's Best 100 Places to Live.

I supervised the preparation of the City's first comprehensive Parks and Trails Master Plan and the revitalization plan of the City's historic downtown. I developed the vision and oversaw the transformation of a 632 acre sand mining operation into a regional park and lake over a 20-year period. I took the lead in establishing a Des Moines metropolitan trails planning organization, which has functioned for the last 15 years.

Thoughts on being elected to Council of Fellows: It is a tremendous honor to be selected as an ASLA Fellow. I feel fortunate to work in a growing community where I can have both an immediate and long term impact, and see plans implemented over an extended period of time. It is the ultimate reminder that the decision to study landscape architecture 32 years ago was a great choice!