Legacy for Living Blog

Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ Presidents History

October 30, 2024

The first 81 presidents of the American Society of Landscape Architects. Graphic prepared on the occasion of Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ's 125th anniversary >

The Early Years

The original 1899 constitution of the American Society of landscape architects called for the annual election of officers. The small size of the membership lent itself to two phenomena no longer seen: presidential reelection and non-consecutive terms in office.

1. 1899-1901 ¡ª John C. Olmsted, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ*
2. 1901-1902 ¡ª Samuel Parsons, Jr., FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ*
3. 1902-1903 ¡ª Nathan F. Barrett, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ*
4. 1903-1905 ¡ª John C. Olmsted, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ*
5. 1905-1907 ¡ª Samuel Parsons, Jr., FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ*
6. 1907-1909 ¡ª Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ*
7. 1909-1911 ¡ª Charles N. Lowrie, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ*
8. 1911-1912 ¡ª Harold A. Caparn, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
9. 1912-1913 ¡ª Ossian C. Simonds, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ*
10. 1913-1914 ¡ª Warren H. Manning, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ*
11. 1914-1918 ¡ª James Sturgis Pray, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
12. 1918-1922 ¡ª Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ*

* - Charter Member

John C. Olmsted, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ: The first and fourth president of Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ.

The Era of Long Terms

The bylaws of 1922 created a two-year term of office for the presidency. Reelection of presidents was still very common, but not non-consecutive reelection. This may be due to the fact that immediate past presidents were frequently given an at-large seat on the Board of Trustees.

13. 1922-1927 ¡ª James L. Greenleaf, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
14. 1927-1931 ¡ª Arthur A. Shurcliff, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
15. 1931-1935 ¡ª Henry Vincent Hubbard, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
16. 1935-1941 ¡ª Albert D. Taylor, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
17. 1941-1945 ¡ª S. Herbert Hare, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
18. 1945-1949 ¡ª Markley Stevenson, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
19. 1949-1951 ¡ª Gilmore D. Clarke, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
20. 1951-1953 ¡ª Lawrence G. Linnard, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
21. 1953-1957 ¡ª Leon Zach, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
22. 1957-1961 ¡ª Norman T. Newton, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
23. 1961-1963 ¡ª John I. Rogers, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ

The 50th Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ Annual Meeting at the Shoreham Hotel, Washington, DC. April 4, 1949. Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. is featured near bottom-center.

Modernizing

Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ went through a great deal of change in the 1960s and 70s ¨C including moving from Boston to Washington, DC and experimenting with outsourced organizational management. In 1962 the bylaws changed to include the election of multiple vice presidents, each in charge of separate functions and committees. While not prohibited, no president in this period served more than one term in office.

24. 1963-1965 ¡ª John Ormsbee Simonds, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
25. 1965-1967 ¡ª Hubert B. Owens, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
26. 1967-1969 ¡ª Theodore Osmundson, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
27. 1969-1971 ¡ª Campbell E. Miller, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
28. 1971-1973 ¡ª Raymond L. Freeman, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ

The Current System

The Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ bylaws have never expressly forbidden the reelection of presidents, but this is functionally impossible now because of the system adopted in 1972. Instead of holding elections for a president whose term of office began months later, elections are instead held for the new position of "President Elect". These are three year leadership commitments that automatically cycle through the positions of President Elect, President, and Immediate Past President; all of which have seats on the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees.

29. 1973-1974 ¡ª William G. Swain, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
30. 1974-1975 ¡ª Owen H. Peters, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
31. 1975-1976 ¡ª Edward H. Stone, II, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
32. 1976-1977 ¡ª Benjamin W. Gary, Jr., FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
33. 1977-1978 ¡ª Lane L. Marshall, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
34. 1978-1979 ¡ª Jot D. Carpenter, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
35. 1979-1980 ¡ª Robert L. Woerner, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
36. 1980-1981 ¡ª William A. Behnke, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
37. 1981-1982 ¡ª Calvin T. Bishop, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
38. 1982-1983 ¡ª Theodore J. Wirth, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
39. 1983-1984 ¡ª Darwina L. Neal, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
40. 1984-1985 ¡ª Robert H. Mortensen, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
41. 1985-1986 ¡ª John Wacker, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
42. 1986-1987 ¡ª Roger B. Martin, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
43. 1987-1988 ¡ª Cheryl L. Barton, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
44. 1988-1989 ¡ª Brian S. Kubota, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
45. 1989-1990 ¡ª Gerald D. Patten, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
46. 1990-1991 ¡ª Claire R. Bennett, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
47. 1991-1992 ¡ª Cameron R. J. Man, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
48. 1992-1993 ¡ª Debra L. Mitchell, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
49. 1993-1994 ¡ª Thomas P. Papandrew, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
50. 1994-1995 ¡ª Dennis Y. Otsuji, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
51. 1995-1996 ¡ª Vincent Bellafiore, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
52. 1996-1997 ¡ª Donald W. Leslie, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
53. 1997-1998 ¡ª Thomas R. Dunbar, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
54. 1998-1999 ¡ª Barry W. Starke, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ

The graphic Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ Presidents Past, Present, and Future as displayed at the Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ Pavilion on the EXPO floor. 2024 Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ Conference on Landscape Architecture, Washington, DC, October 6-9, 2024.

55. 1999-2000 ¡ª Janice Cervelli Schach, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
56. 2000-2001 ¡ª Leonard J. Hopper, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
57. 2001-2002 ¡ª Rodney L. Swink, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
58. 2002-2003 ¡ª Paul F. Morris, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
59. 2003-2004 ¡ª Susan L. B. Jacobson, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
60. 2004-2005 ¡ª Patrick A. Miller, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
61. 2005-2006 ¡ª Dennis B. Carmichael, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
62. 2006-2007 ¡ª Patrick W. Caughey, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
63. 2007-2008 ¡ª Perry Howard, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
64. 2008-2009 ¡ª Angela D. Dye, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
65. 2009-2010 ¡ª Gary D. Scott, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
66. 2010-2011 ¡ª Jonathan Mueller, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
67. 2011-2012 ¡ª Susan M. Hatchell, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
68. 2012-2013 ¡ª Thomas R. Tavella, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
69. 2013-2014 ¡ª Mark A. Focht, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
70. 2014-2015 ¡ª K. Richard Zweifel, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
71. 2015-2016 ¡ª Chad D. Danos, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
72. 2016-2017 ¡ª Vaughn B. Rinner, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
73. 2017-2018 ¡ª Gregory A. Miller, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
74. 2018-2019 ¡ª Shawn T. Kelly, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
75. 2019-2020 ¡ª Wendy Miller, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
76. 2020-2021 ¡ª Tom Mroz, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
77. 2021-2022 ¡ª Eugenia Martin, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
78. 2022-2023 ¡ª Emily O'Mahoney, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
79. 2023-2024 ¡ª SuLin Kotowicz, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
80. 2024-2025 ¡ª Kona Gray, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ
81. 2025-2026 ¡ª Bradley McCauley, FË¿¹ÏÊÓƵ