Congratulations to the 2021 Nominees to the ASLA Council of Fellows:

Juan Bueno has consistently demonstrated excellence and conviction in his academic and administrative leadership roles to advance landscape architecture education. His impact at Florida International University is wide ranging and long term. As coordinator and director of the Graduate Program in Landscape Architecture, he revised the entire program core curriculum (which has endured through decades) in preparation for professional accreditation. Juan also guided its initial accreditation—the first of any professional program at FIU—in record time and without any reservations. He was instrumental in the creation of the School of Architecture, which integrated programs in architecture, interior architecture, and landscape architecture, and served as dean where he focused on its interdisciplinary curriculum and established professional, pre-professional, and post-professional degree programs in those disciplines. During the financial crisis of 2008, his financial reorganization saved the School of Architecture and the Graduate Program in Landscape Architecture from threatened closure. He also assembled the most diverse faculty at the university. Over more than three decades, his program has won over 100 regional and national awards from ASLA, the American Institute of Architects, and the American Planning Association. His service to the university, the students, and the profession is unparalleled and extensive.

A practicing landscape architect with over 30 years of experience in site planning and landscape architecture, Christina Hite is devoted to inclusion and diversity. Her highly effective leadership has advanced the impact of landscape architecture in a unique way. After the terrorist attack on Pulse Nightclub in Central Florida, Chris got involved in developing the vision and design for a memorial and museum on the site of the attack. Her firm, Dix.Hite, donated all professional services to the Interim Memorial, nearly 1,000 hours, and Chris stepped up to be Co-Chair of the Design and Construction Committee for the onePULSE Foundation. Dix.Hite recently joined the OUTSIDE sustainable landscape collaborative, with a goal to shift the state’s landscape paradigm toward a future that incorporates research, policy, culture, and industry to position landscapes as a vital solution to the health and viability of Florida’s natural resources. Chris and her firm were introducing native palettes and plants and championing low-impact development strategies long before it was commonplace. Her thought leadership has propelled the development of a thriving women-led firm and clients of global significance, and she has used her platform to inspire the next generation of landscape architects and engage the highest levels of the profession and academia.

Andrew Witkin has worked tirelessly for over 30 years with a singular goal—to continually advance the profession of landscape architecture, primarily through working with universities and allied professional groups. He is the only landscape architect to be inducted into the Builders Association of South Florida (BASF) Hall of Fame for his leadership on educating hundreds within the building industry on the role and skill set of landscape architects. Andrew was one of the first professionals to raise and address the concern of sea level rise and the environmental impacts in South Florida and advocate for design solutions. For twelve years, Andrew served on the Biscayne Bay Shoreline Development Review Committee whose mission is to preserve the area’s natural, recreational, and aesthetic values. At Penn State he serves on the Philanthropic Council and designed and coordinated “Preparing for Professional Practice,” a program for Penn State students to experience landscape architecture practices in Pennsylvania. His commitment to his community includes pro bono services to assist abandoned children and homeless men and women through HIS House, the Lotus House, The Chapman Partnership, and Broward Outreach; to numerous houses of worship; and as a founding board member of the Woland Foundation, dedicated to helping the next generation of women in the arts.