Class Acts

During a summer-long workshop known for testing the mettle of Texas A&M graduate visualization students, four teams, mentored by visiting artists from Disney’s Pixar Animated Studios, crafted short animated films featuring the comedic exploits of dissimilar robots.

For leading studies at HKS Inc. on design’s impact on human health, former student Upali Nanda ’05 earned the Architectural Record’s 2018 Women in Architecture Award, an elite honor bestowed by the magazine on Nanda and four additional architects.

Former Texas A&M College of Architecture student Liliana Ibáñez ’14 is being hailed as the next Michael Phelps by Mexican news outlets after earning five gold, one silver and three bronze medals swimming in the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games.

Six Texas A&M College of Architecture former students who have distinguished themselves as leaders in their respective fields were honored as Outstanding Alumni at a Nov. 15, 2018 banquet in College Station.

Wendy Pautz ’86, a partner at Seattle-based LMN Architects who led the design of numerous public and private-sector projects that transformed urban settings, is one of the newest members of the prestigious American Institute of Architects’ College of Fellows.

Former students are invited to submit items for the Class Acts section of the arch|one e-newsletter, which highlights professional achievements, as well as news briefs about marriages, births, retirements and whatever else former students care to share with the college community. News and photos may be e-mailed directly to the editor.

Twenty-five former Texas A&M visualization students, or Vizzers, were part of the Pixar Animation Studios team that returned a famous crime fighting superhero family to the big screen in “Incredibles 2,” smashing box office records and earning critical acclaim.

Larry Priesmeyer, a master craftsman, architect and Texas A&M College of Architecture professor emeritus, passed away May 20, 2018. He was 85. Memorial services are scheduled for 4 p.m. Thursday, May 24 at Callaway-Jones Funeral Home in Bryan.

Jamie Crawley ’96, who holds two Texas A&M design degrees, earned a 2018 Young Architects Award from the American Institute of Architects for significant contributions to and exemplary leadership in the field.

Britt Parker Medford, ENDS ’80 a noted Austin area architect and lighting designer succumbed to cancer April 2018. He was 59. A native of Tyler, Texas, he graduated with honors from Texas A&M and completed his graduate studies at the University of Virginia.

Shannon Van Zandt, a distinguished educator, researcher, author and administrator who joined the Texas A&M College of Architecture faculty in 2005, is the new head of the university’s Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning.

For outstanding contributions to the university, the community and his profession, College of Architecture graduate James M. Singleton IV ’66 has netted a Distinguished Alumnus Award, the highest honor bestowed upon former Texas A&M students, by The Association of Former Students in a surprise ceremony on March 28.

With two gifts from College of Architecture Development Advisory Council members this month, the college passed the two-thirds mark toward its $30 million goal in Texas A&M University’s “Lead by Example” campaign.

The myriad achievements of two former Texas A&M urban planning students have elevated them to the American Institute of Certified Planners’ College of Fellows, one of the profession’s highest honors.

A former Texas A&M environmental design student who was transformed by a single 1982 semester spent studying abroad in Italy is creating a scholarship to help fund similar transcendent educational experiences for today’s Texas A&M students.