2023 Alumni Awards
James L. Hewlett
Lifetime Achievement Award
James L. Hewlett, AIA, NACRB, has practiced architecture in Dallas for 45 years, owning his firm for 36 years. In addition to winning national and regional architectural design awards for a wide range of project types, he has received national and state of Texas recognition for various civic and religious projects.
Arnold Lerner
Lifetime Achievement Award
Arnold Lerner, FAIA, is nationally recognized for his pioneering work and advocacy in promoting accessible design in California and throughout the United States. He has served on commissions such as the California Commission on Disability Access, Access Appeals Commission of San Francisco, and the San Francisco Code Advisory Committee. A key member of the historic preservation community, Lerner served as staff architect for San Francisco Architectural Heritage, the city’s leading architectural preservation organization, and has been honored with numerous awards for preservation projects.
Ron Turner
Lifetime Achievement Award
Ron Turner, FAIA is one of the industry’s most recognized sports facility designers. Principal and Sports Leader at Gensler, his portfolio includes ballparks, arenas, and stadiums. Turner consults for professional leagues on facility evaluation, design guidelines, and broadcast and security requirements. He is a member of the Stadium Managers Association, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Urban Land Institute, and the International Association of Venue Managers. He also serves as the Southern California Olympic Games Committee Vice Chair for the Los Angeles Sports Council.
Julie Wellner
Lifetime Achievement Award
Julie Wellner has been the principal owner of Wellner Architects since 1987. Last year, the Kansas City-based company expanded markets to become Wellner Architects + Engineers welcoming a full scope of services that include architecture, interior architecture, and mechanical, plumbing, electrical, and technology engineering. Wellner’s portfolio includes award-winning projects within aviation, education, science and technology, office, research and development, healthcare, hospitality and retail, government, sports, housing, and more.
Diamond Bronson
Distinguished Alumni Award
Diamond Bronson, AIA, is the Associate Vice President and Healthcare Studio Leader at Hoefer Welker, where she manages large-scale healthcare projects and spearheads innovative programs. Her extensive community involvement includes leadership roles in AIA Kansas City, Alpha Kappa Alpha, and as a founding board member of the Metropolitan Leadership Institute.
Basil Sherman II
Distinguished Alumni Award
Basil Sherman II is a principal at the Pulse Design Group in Kansas City. He is ACHA and EDAC certified healthcare design professional who has worked on multiple award-wining, large- and small-scale healthcare facilities. He has mentored many young professionals on healthcare design and is considered a pioneering thought leader in the field.
Jordan Jacobson
Distinguished Alumni Award
Jordan Jacobson is an award-winning creative director at The New York Times. He has led the creative direction and design for all core news and bundle-focused acquisition and engagement initiatives for The New York Times. In 2022, Jacobson oversaw the design direction and implementation of a new identity for the New York Times All Access bundle and directed multi-channel launch and awareness campaigns, including an award-winning transit takeover of the Times Square shuttle and Grand Central Station subway.
Stephen Johnson
Distinguished Alumni Award
Stephen Johnson is an artist, designer, and educator whose professional experience spans media, context, and scale. In addition to multiple award-winning books, his drawings and paintings are in permanent collections at Carnegie Mellon University, the New Britain Museum of American Art in Connecticut, and the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution. Among his public art works are a 66-foot mosaic mural at the DeKalb Avenue Subway Station in Brooklyn, a 58-foot mosaic mural at the Universal City Metro Station in Los Angeles, and 33 glass panels at Dallas Love Field Airport. Johnson has taught drawing and illustration courses in the KU Department of Design since 2013.
Tristan Telander
Distinguished Alumni Award
Tristan Telander is an exhibition designer at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Using visual communication design to interpret complex themes across a range of media, her work contributes to the ongoing discourse around art, technology, and identity. With a dedication to advancing the exhibition design profession and a commitment to civic communities, Telander serves as a mentor and advocate.
Alan Tipp
Distinguished Alumni Award
Alan Tipp, owner of the Omaha-based design studio and consultancy, ATIPPICAL, has developed products for some of the world’s best-known brands and contributed to over 75 U.S. and foreign patents. Just five years after graduating from KU in 2000, Tipp was named director of Performance Eyewear at Under Armour, where he went on to be recognized on all of the company’s design and utility patents, including the tool-free football visor clip used in the NFL. Tipp has developed products for Crocs, Hobie, Pit Viper, Stüssy, and many more.
Eric Zabilka
Distinguished Alumni Award
Eric Zabilka, AIA, is president of Omni Architects in Lexington, Kentucky. Since joining the firm immediately after graduating from KU in 1995, Zabika has played an integral role in growing and enhancing Omni Architects legacy as a leading design firm in the region. Through awarding-winning projects, exhibitions, teaching, and advocacy, he has worked to demonstrate the value of contemporary design and enhance architecture in underserved regions.
Caroline Fiss
Young Architect/ Designer Award
Caroline Fiss is an independent fashion and commercial photographer based in New York. With a background in dance and choreography, Fiss works to create imagery that captures the artistry of motion. As a senior in college, Fiss kicked off her professional career at New York Fashion Week. Since graduating in 2017, and 16 seasons of fashion week later, she has contributed to features in international publications such as Daily Front Row, Elle, and Vogue, and campaigns for Judith Ripka with a billboard in Times Square, Givenchy Beauty, Isaac Mizrahi and others.
Alyssa Jones
John Gaunt Distinguished Service Award
Alyssa Jones is a design and marketing professional whose leadership has made impacts beyond the realm of design and architecture. Since graduating in 2021 from the Industrial Design program, she has led initiatives for multiple nonprofit organizations. Notably, Jones played a pivotal role in developing initiatives for the Go Further Foundation which led to double-digit membership increases and raised thousands of dollars for the mental health advocacy organization. As an active member of the Junior League, she spearheaded the construction of a library for Cornerstones of Care, an organization that develops partnerships and programs to support community health and safety in the Kansas City area.