Contact: Ron Mackovich, rmackovi@usc.edu
The USC Architectural Guild and the USC School of Architecture have selected 2021 recipients of four awards to be presented at the 62nd annual USC Architectural Guild Dinner on October 19.
Leading off the list of recipients is third generation Trojan Jaime Lynnette Lee, who will be honored with the 2021 Distinguished Business Leadership Award.
“Jaime Lee is exemplary in her business and civic leadership as well as in her contributions to the USC community as a visionary trustee, board councilor and generous supporter. I am excited to celebrate her achievements at this year’s annual dinner and awards program at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum,” said Milton S. F. Curry, dean of the School of Architecture. “Her successful career demonstrates the excellence in opportunities available to graduates of USC and the significant impact of the Lee family in the Southern California region, and to architecture, real estate and business industries.”
Lee is the chief executive officer of the Jamison group of companies, which controls over 13 million square feet of commercial properties and 3,000 multifamily units throughout Southern California. Lee earned her bachelor’s degree in English from the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences in 2006 and completed her law degree at the USC Gould School of Law in 2009. The Los Angeles native currently sits on the USC Board of Trustees and the Board of Councilors for the USC Dornsife School of Letters, Arts and Sciences. She lectures regularly at USC.
Lee previously served as president of the USC Alumni Association Board of Governors and of the USC Alumni Association Board of Directors.
“Trojan architects and designers give life to the projects we’ve only envisioned in our dreams; they also transform our communities and how we engage with them, block by block, generation by generation,” Lee said. “I am so grateful for the ongoing work and partnership of the USC School of Architecture, and I am incredibly honored to accept this year’s Distinguished Business Leadership Award. Thank you to Dean Curry and the USC Architectural Guild for this wonderful recognition.”
Citizen Architect Award
Receiving the 2021 Citizen Architect Award are Teddy Cruz and Fonna Forman. In creating this award category, the school sought to highlight and celebrate the contributions of architects and design leaders who, in multidimensional capacities, embrace the complexities of social, environmental and political concerns. The Citizen Architect is a community convener and collaborator, helping to solve design challenges for the public good and a better built environment.
Dean Curry recognizes Cruz and Forman as life and business partners who “embody the true spirit of this award in their groundbreaking work at the U.S. and Mexico border, amongst their other important geographic foci.”
In a joint statement upon receiving this award, Cruz and Forman acknowledged, “We are honored to be recognized for our research-based practice at the U.S.-Mexico border. This honor implies that USC recognizes the urgency of expanding the fields of design to confront the most pressing challenges of our time: deepening inequality, border-building everywhere, the ravages of climate change and the steady acceleration of migratory flows across the world. We are particularly honored to have been selected during Milton Curry’s visionary leadership, dedicated to reorienting and retooling architectural education and practice to engage these issues.”
Kirkpatrick to receive USC Architecture 2021 Distinguished Alumni Award
The USC Architectural Guild and the USC School of Architecture have selected Grant C. Kirkpatrick ’86, FAIA for the USC Architecture 2021 Distinguished Alumni Award.
With numerous contributions to the University of Southern California community as an active alumnus, former Architectural Guild board president, longtime board councilor, current co-chair of the Board of Councilors and generous supporter of student scholarships and the Master of Landscape Design + Urbanism Program, Grant Kirkpatrick is an exemplary Trojan.
A third-generation Californian, Kirkpatrick has been the visionary force behind KAA Design, the firm he founded 33 years ago. Since then, the award-winning firm has completed projects for Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Christie’s auction house, Hugo Boss stores and other award-winning commercial, hospitality and residential properties nationally and internationally.
Kirkpatrick remains deeply rooted in community-based organizations that benefit the next generation of diverse youth. He has served on the board of ArtworxLA and generously contributes to a number of nonprofit organizations. Kirkpatrick and his wife, Shaya ’86, are devoted Trojans, community and civic supporters, and industry leaders.
“USC Architecture is where it all started for me — from legendary faculty members to my beloved classmates, I am gratefully indebted to the education and community afforded to me by the USC experience and in my longtime affiliation now with the school and the Architectural Guild. That is why I am committing my time, talent and treasures to the School of Architecture as an adviser, donor and councilor,” Kirkpatrick said. “I am so grateful for the ongoing work and partnership of the USC School of Architecture, and I am incredibly honored to accept this year’s Distinguished Alumni Award. Thank you to Dean [Milton S.F.] Curry and the USC Architectural Guild for this wonderful recognition.”
Coleman honored with Lifetime Achievement Award
Receiving posthumously the 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award is Professor Kim Coleman. In creating this award category, USC sought to highlight the exemplary contributions made to the built environment throughout the arc of one’s career. Coleman made countless contributions to the lives of students, faculty and staff over four decades in the roles of trailblazer, gifted educator and devoted mentor.
Coleman received her undergraduate degree from Smith College and masters of architecture from the University of Virginia, and began her teaching career at USC in 1983. She taught a range of studio courses and served as the Global Program Director, framing opportunities for students to study abroad. She taught and directed programs in Barcelona, Spain, and Rome, Milan and Como, Italy, from 2010 through 2014. Coleman had maintained a design firm with partner Mark Cigolle since moving to Los Angeles in 1982. The design practice investigates the nature of architectural collaboration, an aspect that is brought back into design teaching.
Accepting the award on her behalf are family members Mark, Reid and Zina Cigolle. “Teacher, mentor, faculty leader and friend to the School of Architecture at USC, these roles were more than a vocation for Kim. She was passionate about teaching, and this recognition of her dedication to the school and university would have meant the world to her, as it does to her family. Reid, Zina and I are proud to accept the Lifetime Achievement Award on her behalf. Thank you for this recognition,” Mark Cigolle said.
Tickets and sponsorship opportunities
The 62nd annual USC Architectural Guild Dinner will be held Oct. 19, 2021 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Proceeds support student scholarships and academic programming at the USC School of Architecture. Click here for more information on table sponsorship opportunities and ticket sales.
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