Judith Stilgenbauer, associate professor in the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa School of Architecture, has won the 2018 Poʻokela Award, the highest recognition from the state chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects ( ASLA ).

The award, presented during ASLA Hawaiʻi‘s Triennial Awards Ceremony on October 5 at the Pacific Club, recognizes landscape architects who have made significant contributions and changed the way the profession looks at landscape architecture.

Stilgenbauer was honored for her tireless work and leadership in establishing the Master of Landscape Architecture ( MLA ) program at UH Mānoa this fall. It is the first and only professional landscape architecture degree program in Hawaiʻi and the general Polynesian region. A professional license is required to practice landscape architecture; an accredited degree in landscape architecture is needed for licensure.

“Judith was indefatigable in the long effort to bring this much needed MLA program to fruition,” said William Chapman, School of Architecture interim dean. “The enormous amount of work required for a new UH Mānoa degree would never have been completed without her leadership and extraordinary effort.”