David Malda, a graduate student at the University of Virginia, has been selected as National Olmsted Scholar and recipient of the $25,000 award.  David is pursuing a dual master's degree in Landscape and Building Architecture. He plans to use the award to develop  a report and online forum on the health of urban landscapes.

Also honored are four national finalists:  Peter Emerson, Temple University; Brent Jacobsen, University of Arizona; Timothy Mollette-Parks, University of California, Berkeley; and Emily Vogler, University of Pennsylvania. 

The winner and finalists were selected from a national pool of graduate and undergraduate students who were nominated by their faculty as student leaders in sustainable design and planning.  The 28 students who were nominated for the national award earned the designation of 2009 University Olmsted Scholars. 

The 2009 jury members were:  Dennis Carmichael, FASLA, LAF President and Vice President and Principal, EDAW; Lucinda Sanders, ASLA, CEO, OLIN; Forster Ndubisi, Professor and Department Head, Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, Texas A&M University; Angela Dye, FASLA, ASLA President and President and Principal, A. Dye Design; Teresa Durkin, Vice President and Senior Landscape Architect, HOK; Susan Szenasy, Editor-in-Chief, Metropolis Magazine; and Andrea Gaffney, 2008 National Olmsted Scholar.

The Olmsted Scholars Program was initiated in 2008 to honor the work of today's student leaders in sustainable design and planning.  The 2008 National Olmsted Scholar was Andrea Gaffney, a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley.  Andrea  completed concurrent master's degrees in Landscape Architecture and City Planning, with a concentration in Urban Design, in May 2009. 

The entire group of nominees will be honored on September 18, 2009 in Chicago at LAF's benefit,  www.lafoundation.org/millenniummagic.

The Olmsted Scholars Program is supported by founding sponsors EDSA, HOK, the Edith Harrison Henderson Fund, OLIN, and the Harriet Barnhardt Wimmer Fund/Wimmer Yamada and Caughey.  Annual sponsors provide support through matching gifts to the LAF Annual Fund and the Olmsted Scholars Program. For more information about this year's sponsorship opportunities, contact Ron Figura at 202.331.7070, x10 or by email at rfigura@lafoundation.org. 

Over time the prestige and publicity associated with the award is expected to publicize the profession, its significance, and the opportunities it offers and help to attract inspired and motivated leaders.  So far, it seems to be working.  In a thank-you letter to LAF last fall, the 2008 Olmsted Scholar, Andrea Gaffney, expressed her gratitude for the program by saying, "I don't think I can fully express the awe and pride I feel for being selected as the first Olmsted Scholar.  The honor adds a weight to my work which I hope I can support."