class acts

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.

Former Texas A&M architecture students reminisced and rekindled friendships during a 2017 campus reunion marking the 50th anniversary of their graduation.

In the first comprehensive architectural history of McMurdo Station, a research facility located in Antarctica, former Ph.D. student Georgina Davis traces the station’s days from its founding in 1957 as a temporary military field camp to a modern, if spartan, hub for scientists.

One current Texas A&M visualization student and 15 Aggie Viz Lab veterans helped two major U.S. animation studios garner 2017 Oscars. This year's best animated feature was Disney Animation Studio's "Zootopia," and the best animated short film was Pixar Animation Studio's "Piper."

The American Institute of Architects has elevated former Texas A&M students, Debra Dockery ’75 and Luis Jauregui ’76, to its prestigious College of Fellows for achieving a standard of excellence in the architecture profession .

For significant contributions through service to the American Institute of Architects, including his "uncanny ability to recruit, mentor, and involve others in projects and causes," Ron Skaggs ’65, chairman emeritus of HKS Inc. was honored with the group's 2016 Edward C. Kemper Award.

Nominations for the 2017 College of Architecture Outstanding Alumni Awards are due by March 1, 2017. “This award recognizes the exemplary leadership, relentless pursuit of excellence, exceptional talents and numerous accomplishments of the recipients,” said Jorge Vanegas, dean of the Texas A&M University College of Architecture. “We strongly encourage those who know a former student deserving of this prestigious honor to nominate him or her.”

Former students have multiple end-of-the-year opportunities to remember College of Architecture faculty who've contributed to their success, said Larry Zuber, the university’s development officer for the college.

A new scholarship program established with a significant endowment by William Merriweather Peña ’42, a former Texas A&M architecture student, World War II hero, and renowned architect, will help generations of aspiring Aggie architects receive an education.

Former Aggie corpsman William Merriweather Peña '42, who led a heavy weapons platoon through dense, snow-covered European forests in the Battle of the Bulge, was presented with one of Belgium's highest honors at a Dec. 7, 2016 Rudder Theatre ceremony.

Virtual reality movies created by Oculus Story Studio that dazzle headset-clad viewers with a 360-degree view of a filmmaker’s computer-generated world were discussed by studio supervisor Chris Horne in an F.E. Giesecke Lecture.

Twenty former students from the Texas A&M College of Architecture lead 14 companies in the 2016 Aggie 100, a list of the fastest-growing firms owned or led by Aggie graduates compiled annually for the Mays Business School’s Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship.

A group of distinguished leaders from the design and construction industry, all of them Texas A&M former students, recently designed a supplemental curriculum to help aspiring College of Architecture students become tomorrow’s industry leaders.

Former students are invited to submit news 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, or whatever else former students care to share with the college community. News and photos may be e-mailed directly to the editor.

Described as a “powerhouse” in Houston architecture, studioMET, a design/build firm led by former environmental design students Stephen Andrews and Shawn Gottschalk, earned 2016 Firm of the Year honors from Houston AIA.