Jonathan Spodek, an assistant professor of architecture, was among a handful of professionals across the country who were nominated this year for the Young Architects Award by the American Institute of Architects.

The award honors architects who have shown exceptional leadership and made significant contributions to the profession in an early stage of their career. AIA members who have been licensed to practice architecture for less than 10 years are eligible.

This year's Young Architects Awards were presented this month at the AIA's annual conference in Philadelphia. Spodek wasn't one of the two recipients, but being nominated was an honor.

His nomination came from the advisory group of the AIA's Historic Resources Committee, which cited his dedication to historic architecture.

Spodek joined Ball State's nationally-recognized architecture faculty in 1998 and teaches in the historic preservation graduate program and undergraduate design studios. He has developed new history/theory courses focusing on community-based preservation, plus a historic preservation design studio in which graduate students work with a community historic district.

His new approach uses historic structures reports to teach preservation technology and documentation of historic properties. He also taught a two-week course in historic preservation in Kathmandu, Nepal, last year.

Spodek's research interests include developing an inventory of historic resources on Indiana's portion of the National Road and environmental design education programs for high school students.

As a licensed architect Spodek has worked on many significant historic structures over the past decade. His award-winning preservation work has included regionally and nationally important projects with Wood Swofford and Associates in Virginia plus international work in Hungary.

With the Historic American Building Survey, he documented Virginia landmarks such as Monticello, the governor's mansion and Richmond's Monument Avenue. He also was a member and chair of the Virginia Society AIA's Historic Resources Committee.

Spodek helps communities to better understand their built environment and historic resources. In the mid-1990s he led the development of a design overlay district that was the first of its kind adopted by the Richmond (Va.) City Council.

His AIA Young Architects Award nomination commended his "professional abilities, which coincide with his personal passions, his attention to detail, his rigorous maintenance of budgets and schedules, his understanding of client needs and a recognition that an architect must develop a deep understanding of the operations and not just the physical needs of the user."

By Ted Buck, Communications Manager

(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, contact Jonathan Spodek at (765) 285-1900 or e-mail at jspodek@bsu.edu.)