Academics

Architecture alumnus wins national leadership award

Penn State architecture and Schreyer Honors College alumnus Jared Edgar McKnight, who graduated in 2011 with bachelor's degrees in architecture and international studies, has received the American Institute of Architects National Associates Award for 2016, presented on May 19 during the AIA National Convention in Philadelphia. Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

Penn State architecture and Schreyer Honors College alumnus Jared Edgar McKnight, who graduated in 2011 with bachelor's degrees in architecture and international studies, has received the American Institute of Architects National Associates Award for 2016, presented on May 19 during the AIA National Convention in Philadelphia. McKnight is an architectural designer at the integrated design firm of Wallace Roberts & Todd (WRT) in Philadelphia

The Associates Award is the highest award given to an individual associate AIA member who best exemplifies the highest quality of leadership and has demonstrated an unparalleled commitment to his or her component or region’s membership in the community, in professional organizations, and/or in the design and construction industries.

Seven winners were selected this year from a national pool of applications by a five-member jury from across the United States.

McKnight also received the 2015 AIA Pennsylvania Associate Award in October, which recognizes exceptional contributions to the profession by an AIA Pennsylvania associate member who graduated in the last five years and who has demonstrated professional and civic leadership.

“I am extremely humbled to receive the AIA National Associates Award. My overriding ambition is to have a profound and lasting impact on the people, projects, and places where I work, so it is a great honor to receive this recognition from the AIA, and I am completely thrilled to be able to accept the award in Philadelphia, the city where I live and started my professional career,” said McKnight.

McKnight has devoted an enormous effort to civic leadership throughout his young career. He is currently in his second year of a two-year term as the associate director on the AIA Philadelphia Board of Directors, and has been an active member of the AIA Associate Committee since 2012. In addition, he is the inaugural 2016 co-chair of the Philadelphia Emerging Architects Committee, a joint collaboration of the AIA Philadelphia Associate Committee and Young Architects Forum that aims to engage all emerging architecture and design professionals in the city of Philadelphia.

McKnight sits on the AIA Philadelphia Design Committee and has been an integral part of the planning committee for the 2016 AIA National Convention in Philadelphia. In addition to his industry accomplishments, Jared serves on the board of directors for the Friends of Louis I. Kahn Park in Washington Square West, his Philadelphia neighborhood.

His leadership has made a lasting impact on the region’s community. Since 2012, he has been the event chair for one of AIA Philadelphia and the Center / Architecture + Design’s largest philanthropic events, CANstruction Philadelphia. This year marks CANstruction Philadelphia’s 10th anniversary, and in the last nine years, the event has donated more than 340,000 pounds of food and raised more than $30,000 for Philabundance, the Delaware Valley’s largest hunger relief organization. In recognition of his volunteer efforts and commitments to AIA Philadelphia, Jared was named the recipient of the 2013-14 AIA Philadelphia Volunteer of the Year Award.

“Jared’s dedication to his craft is astounding. He has accomplished a great deal both professionally and philanthropically over his short career and I look forward to watching him continue to grow,” said Joseph W. Healy, AIA, LEED AP BD +C, managing principal at WRT.

At WRT, McKnight has been a valued team member on the award-winning Hoover-Mason Trestle project in Bethlehem, as well as other projects including: Crystal City Public Realm Design in Arlington, Virginia; SCBD Lot 10 in Jakarta, Indonesia; and The View – Phase 2 in Philadelphia.

Last Updated May 24, 2016