For a 2023 drawing course in the Department of Landscape Architecture, Professor of Practice Emeritus Laurie Olin (left) accompanied students to Philadelphia's Woodlands Cemetery. (Photo: Eric Sucar)
Two Weitzman faculty members have been recognized by the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) in its 2026 awards for outstanding landscape architecture professionals and latest inductions into the CELA Academy of Fellows.
Laurie Olin, who is a practice professor emeritus of landscape architecture, was inducted into the Academy of Fellows. According to CELA, the accomplishments of a fellow “must add up to excellent endeavor sustained over an extended period of time that is truly inspiring and significant.”
Olin is a distinguished teacher, author, artist, and one of the most renowned landscape architects practicing today. As founding principal of the Philadelphia-based firm OLIN, he has guided signature projects, such as the redesign of the Washington Monument Grounds in Washington, DC, for which OLIN won the Design Honor Award from the American Society of Landscape Architects. Other notable projects include New York City’s Bryant Park, the Getty Center in Los Angeles, the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, and Apple Park in Cupertino, California. For over four decades, Olin contributed significantly to the master planning and development of the University’s campus.
M’Closkey in conversation with Erle Ellis at 2019's Design With Nature Now conference, organized by the McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology for the 50th anniversary of the publication of Ian McHarg's Design With Nature.
Professor of Landscape Architecture Karen M’Closkey was recognized by CELA with a 2026 Faculty Award for Studio Teaching (Senior). CELA noted that these Awards not only honor these individuals, but are also meant “to inspire us, elevate our standards, and build this growing community of educators.”
M'Closkey is co-founder, with Keith VanDerSys, of PEG office of landscape + architecture,and co-founder of the Environmental Modeling Lab (EMLab) at the McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology. Their work focuses on the opportunities and limitations enabled by recent advancements in digital mapping and modeling and how they shape our understanding of landscapes and environments.
CELA is composed of virtually all the programs of higher learning in landscape architecture in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and its reach extends to Europe and China.
The 2026 Award winners were honored at an Awards Dinner and Reception at the Annual CELA Conference held in March in Cincinnati, Ohio.
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