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Contact: Matt Tinder
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mtinder@aia.org

For immediate release:
Washington, D.C. – July 26, 2010 – The American Institute of Architects (AIA) National Associates Committee (NAC) has selected six recipients to receive the 2010 Jason Pettigrew Memorial ARE Scholarship. The recipients are Megan Chusid, Assoc. AIA, Douglas L. Milburn, Assoc. AIA, Leigh McMullen, Assoc. AIA, Jessica Sheridan, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP, Salvatore A. Moschelli, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP and Dawn M Trimble, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP.

The recipients were recognized at the NAC reception at the 2010 AIA National Convention and Design Exposition in Miami.

The recipients of the scholarship were chosen by a jury composed of AIA members, component and NAC representatives, a former recipient and others representing various stages of their professional career.

The recipients were selected on the following criteria:

The recipients will receive compensation for the entire cost of the Architect Registration Examination (ARE) and a full set of study guides provided by Kaplan AEC Education.

2010 Jason Pettigrew Memorial ARE Scholarship recipients:

Megan Chusid, Assoc. AIA
Chusid is currently serving on the AIA NY Board of Directors as Alternative Director of Professional Development and has recently established an Annual AIANY ENYA Merit Award recognizing the significant contributions of interns at an early stage of their career to the AIA NY Chapter, and help encourage them to complete their licensure by rewarding them upon completion. After working in a prominent residential & mixed use development design firm for several years, Chusid chose to pursue an alternative career path and is currently Director of Operations for the boutique Construction Management company Richter+Ratner.

Douglas L. Milburn, Assoc. AIA
Milburn works at IGW Architecture in Urbana, Illinois as an Architectural Intern pursuing licensure. He holds a Master of Architecture and a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign. Milburn serves as the National Associates Committee Regional Associate Director for the Illinois Region, AIA Central Illinois Chapter Board of Directors as the President of the Champaign-Urbana Section, and Director of the Young Architects’ Forum. He has been recognized with the 2009 AIA Associates Award, the 2009 Central Illinois Business Magazine 40 Under 40, the 2008 AIA Illinois R. Buckminster Fuller Award, and the 2007 AIA Central Illinois Outstanding Associates Award.

Leigh McMullen, Assoc. AIA
McMullen graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in May of 2004 with a Bachelor of Architecture. She has served as the Educational Director for AIA Rochester and has expanded the Explorer program, a program designed to help high school students explore career paths of interest, to a semester long program. She has introduced a studio based design program that allows her students to explore architectural design in greater depth. McMullen has been instrumental in the award of the Emerging Professional Component Grant to AIA Rochester. She has been nominated to the board for the new Greater Rochester Foundation, which is a nonprofit community outreach offshoot of the chapter, she is instrumental in organizing a network for area women in architecture, and she is a big sister with the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization.

Jessica Sheridan, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP
Sheridan is a Job Captain at Gensler with more than seven years of experience in the field of architecture. She has been a member of the AIA New York Chapter’s Emerging New York Architects Committee (ENYA) since 2003, after graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design with a Masters in Architecture I. She has served as the committee’s co-chair since 2009. As the Editor-in-Chief of e-Oculus, the AIA New York Chapter’s bi-weekly e-zine, Sheridan also contributes articles and has a regular op-ed column called the “Editor’s Soapbox” exploring issues relevant to NYC and the AIA. This year she received the AIANY Stephen A. Kliment Oculus Award for excellence in architectural journalism.

Salvatore A. Moschelli, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP
Moschelli graduated from Lawrence Technological University with a B.S.Arch and M. Arch and has worked in the architecture profession for over 13 years. Currently, Moschelli is the Director of Design and Sustainability at Virginia and Haiti based company Shelter2Home. He has specialized in single and multi-family residential design, hospitality and resorts, fractional ownership, light commercial design, interiors, and now emergency transitional housing which convert to permanent homes. Moschelli helped to change the law in Michigan to become concurrent with NCARB Model Law (Public Act 143 of 2009), which was the first out of eleven states in the U.S. requiring a change in the law to do so.

Dawn M Trimble, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP
Trimble received a Bachelor of Interior Design from Auburn University’s College of Architecture, Design & Construction and a Master of Architecture from Georgia Institute of Technology’s College of Architecture. She worked professionally in the areas of commercial and residential design and multi-family housing. Most recently, Dawn was instrumental in leading the Ga. Tech’s NOMAS (National Organizational of Minority Architecture Students) Chapter to a first place win with their submission at the 2009 NOMA Annual Convention last fall. She also serves as the lead mentor and educational coordinator for ACCI (Atlanta Center for Creative Inquiry) in Atlanta, Georgia. Currently, she teaches in the architectural departments at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Southern Polytechnic State University while growing her own design practice, AR+IA design.

About Jason Pettigrew, Assoc. AIA (1974-2004)
Jason Pettigrew, Assoc. AIA served on the inaugural National Associates Committee. During his two-year term as the Western Mountain Regional Associate Director, Jason also served on the NAC Executive Committee as the Mainstream Director championing issues of internship and licensure. Jason dedicated much of his time with the AIA towards the development and growth of others and was committed to community service. He touched the lives of everyone around him through his selfless service which included not only leadership roles locally, and with AIA Colorado, but through his national service as well. His significant contributions also include serving multiple years as Representative to the IDP Coordinating Committee and involvement in the development of the Emerging Professional’s Companion released in 2004.

About the NAC
Formed in October 2000, the NAC was an evolution of the Intern/Associate Committee, originally formed in 1993. Today, the NAC represents the body of Regional Associates Directors (RAD), one from each of the 18 AIA regions. The NAC is charged with representing associates, both mainstream and alternative, and providing information and leadership to every regional, state and local component. At the center of the NAC’s mission is the desire to bring together the growing community of associate AIA members into a strong voice within the Institute.

About The American Institute of Architects
For over 150 years, members of the American Institute of Architects have worked with each other and their communities to create more valuable, healthy, secure, and sustainable buildings and cityscapes. By using sustainable design practices, materials, and techniques, AIA architects are uniquely poised to provide the leadership and guidance needed to provide solutions to address climate change. AIA architects walk the walk on sustainable design. Visit www.aia.org