Margaret Gerhart Receives 2014 AIA Heritage Ball Scholarship

At this year’s Heritage Ball – the annual joint fundraising gala of the AIA New York Chapter and Center for Architecture Foundation to benefit the Center for Architecture – dual Architecture/Landscape Architecture student and PennDesign Student Council President Margaret Gerhart was the recipient of the AIA New York Chapter and Center for Architecture Foundation’s Design Scholarship.

The gala brings together over 1,000 distinguished leaders from New York's architecture, design, engineering, construction, and real estate communities. Each year, the committee honors a group of individuals whose work has made a significant impact on New York City, and those honorees are then invited to elect an academic program to receive a scholarship in their name.

Dean Marilyn Jordan Taylor, who received the 2014 President’s Award for her lifetime of accomplishments as an architect and educator, nominated Gerhart for the scholarship noting her exceptional leadership qualities and commitment.

"Marilyn creates a whole host of opportunities between each of the design professions which she weaves together within PennDesign. As I complete my degree and enter the fields of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, I hope to be as conscientious to the specificity of these fields, but also as broadminded as she has exemplified, in the cultivation of unique perspectives within the design profession. I look to her leadership at SOM, PennDesign, and beyond, and am so pleased to have witnessed the recognition of her lifetime of leadership in the 2014 President's Award," said Gerhart.