Bill Callaway's career with SWA spanned 45 Years, including roles as CEO, president, chairman of the board, and managing principal.

Among the many projects Bill Callaway served as lead designer or key collaborator was the McCormick Place in Chicago, adding over 900,000 sq. ft. of exhibit, meeting, service and public spaces.

Tribute by SWA

It is with heavy hearts, but with immense gratitude for his influence on our firm and the world of landscape architecture, that SWA announces to our clients and friends the passing of Bill Callaway. Bill passed away November 24, 2014 after a brief battle with cancer.

Bill's foremost professional love was design. He instilled a passion for both the land and for art into his many projects and collaborations, while continuously urging us all to "up the ante" of excellence and exploration in our work.

Bill's enormous talent and dedication produced impactful landscape architecture projects throughout the U.S. and abroad. His design training was heavily influenced by Peter Walker, who called him "an icon of post-World War II practice," yet Bill's unique style remained firmly grounded in his rural upbringing and intuitive connection to the natural landscape.

Bill was a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and in 2007 he received the ASLA Medal, the highest honor the organization bestows upon a landscape architect. The ASLA Medal jury stated that Bill's "personal leadership, charisma, and professional passion inspire designers to retain an idealistic view of the profession and the world."

Bill became president of SWA in 1988 and CEO in 1996. Under his 10-year leadership the firm more than doubled in size and, in 2005, was awarded the ASLA's Landscape Architecture Firm Award.

Bill's leadership style was flexible, straightforward, and highly people-oriented. He mentored generations of SWA's principals, associates, and staff, inspiring us with his humor, humility, friendship, and the wide range of his skills. Bill was also an insightful and pragmatic business leader who dealt with people fairly, openly, and honestly.

We will dearly miss Bill. He leaves us with a profound awareness of his impact on each of us, on the profession, and on the many projects he helped to create.

Professional Highlights

1967 - BS degree in landscape architecture, U.C. Berkeley. Joins Sasaki Walker and Associates, San Francisco.

1971 - MLA degree, GSD, Harvard University. Returns to Sasaki Walker and Associates (SWA).

1976 - Managing Principal, SWA Sausalito Office.

1988 - President, SWA Group.

1994- Fellow, American Society of Landscape Architects.

1996 - CEO, SWA Group.

2005 - SWA wins ASLA's Landscape Architecture Firm Award.

2007 - Awarded the ASLA Medal.

2007 - Distinguished Alumni Award, College of Environmental Design, U.C. Berkeley.

2008 - Chairman, SWA Group.

Bill remained a principal in the San Francisco office of SWA and a SWA board member after stepping down as
CEO in 2006.

Select Projects, on which Bill served as lead designer or key collaborator:

Civic
Arizona Center (Phoenix); McCormick Place (Chicago); Columbus City Hall; Kansas City Power and Light District; Village of Merrick Park (Coral Gables, Fla.); Concord Pavilion (Calif.); McCarran Airport (Las Vegas); Oveido Marketplace (Orlando).

Campuses
Electronic Arts; HP; Syntex Laboratories; CREATE campus (National University of Singapore); National Audiovisual Conservation Campus (Culpepper, Va.); Weyerhaeuser Headquarters; IBM Almaden Research Center; Bank of America, Concord, Calif.; Fireman's Fund Headquarters (Novato, Calif.); University of Washington-Husky Stadium.

Hospitality
Hyatt Regency Scottsdale; Desert Ridge, Ariz.

Large-Scale City
Filinvest Corporate City, Manila; Beijing Finance Center; Tuen Mun New Town (Hong Kong).

Mixed-use/Communities/Residential
Mare Island Development (Vallejo, Calif.); Summerlin (Las Vegas); Magee Ranch (Danville, Calif.); Sangiacomo residence (Pebble Beach, Calif.); Staglin residence (Napa Valley).

Parks/Plazas
Barney Allis Plaza (Kansas City); Centennial Park (Atlanta); Shoreline Regional Park (Mountain View, Calif.); PPG Plaza (Pittsburgh); Refugio Valley Park (Hercules, Calif.); 101 California St. (San Francisco).