MUNCIE, Ind. - Ball State University has awarded the first David R. Hermansen Memorial Scholarship for the Study of Historic Preservation and Restoration to graduate student Rebecca S. Lawin.

The scholarship commemorates the career of the late founder of Ball State’s master of science in historic preservation degree in the nationally recognized College of Architecture and Planning.

Hermansen, who died in 1994, served for many years as a Ball State architecture professor, an initial member of Muncie’s Historic Preservation and Rehabilitation Commission and a member of the Indiana Historic Preservation Review Board. He was honored for his efforts to research, document and help preserve many of Indiana’s historic courthouses.

Hermansen was a pioneer in the field of preservation education and believed strongly in the importance of trained professionals to serve the emerging field of historic preservation. To that end, he took the lead in establishing the master of science degree program at Ball State, which has educated preservation professionals since 1979. He also was dedicated to students and worked to give them mentoring and financial support.

The Hermansen Scholarship was created by his family and friends to help an outstanding candidate for admission to the preservation program pay for his or her graduate education.

The award recognizes outstanding potential for achievement academically and professionally in historic preservation on the part of a first-year graduate student in historic preservation.

Lawin is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Washington University in St. Louis and holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture and history. While an undergraduate, she obtained internships in historic preservation, one involving writing nominations for historic properties to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places and the other working on design guidelines for the local Main Street revitalization program in Quincy, Ill.

Upon applying to the master of science in historic preservation degree this year, Lawin received a University Graduate Fellowship from Ball State. She is a native of Waverly, Iowa.

This year’s inaugural award was recently presented at the College of Architecture and Planning’s graduate convocation by architecture professor J. Robert Taylor, a close friend of Hermansen and chair of the Hermansen Scholarship Committee.

By Ted Buck, Communications Manager