UTSA College of Architecture Students Win Third Consecutive Anderson Prize
By Nicole Chavez

For the third year in a row, a team of UTSA students instructed by professor Sue Ann Pemberton, FAIA, has been awarded the Kenneth Lanier Anderson Prize. The Anderson Prize is given annually to the highest-ranking Charles E. Peterson Prize entry from a university located in the state of Texas. The UTSA team received both the Peterson and Anderson Prizes for their documentation work on the Herrera-Ruiz House in 2011. Students of Pemberton’s class received both awards last year for their work on the Heermann Store in Somerset, Texas, and were honored for the Spanish Governor’s Palace in Downtown San Antonio in 2009. UTSA students took home the awards in other years as well, including 2003.

“When students document a building, they learn to really look closely at that building and understand how it was constructed, because they have to convey that information in drawings,” said Pemberton.

Charles E. Peterson, FAIA, was the founder of the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) of the National Park Service, and the Peterson Prize is presented by HABS, the Athenaeum of Philadelphia, and the American Institute of Architects. The Anderson Prize, administered by the Texas Architectural Foundation (TAF), was established to honor the memory of Kenneth L. Anderson, AIA, former Principal Architect and later Chief of HABS. While the Peterson Prize is intended to increase awareness, knowledge, and appreciation of historic buildings throughout the United States, the Anderson Prize focuses on Texas’ accredited schools of architecture, encouraging students to record buildings to HABS standards and submit them to the permanent HABS collection of measured drawings at the Library of Congress.

Pemberton and UTSA team member Jaime Jimenez accepted both awards on behalf of the group at an awards ceremony that was part of the AIA Historic Resources Committee Luncheon, which was held on Oct. 21 in Buffalo, New York. Team participants were Jimenez, Brett Davidson, Analy de la Cruz, Robert Gonzalez, John James, Adriana Munoz, Jennifer Speed, and Courtney Widacki.

“While the quality work is completed by students, it is also important to realize that Prof. Pemberton has been leading Peterson Award-level student submissions for many years, and now her class has received the honor for three years in a row,” said Dr. John Murphy, Dean of the College of Architecture. “This is a sign of incredible quality instruction in architectural education. Professor Pemberton continues to make all of us here in the College of Architecture proud to have her on the faculty.”