To celebrate and promote the profession of architecture, provide opportunities for professional growth, and improve the built environment.

2008 AIA/NEI Student Scholarships

AIA Northeast Illinois Awards Three Scholarships
The Northeast Illinois Chapter of The American Institute of Architects, in conjunction with The American Institute of Architects, has awarded $3,000 scholarships to three students pursuing architectural degrees.

“One of our core missions is to promote the profession of architecture, which is precisely what we achieve with these scholarships,” said committee Chairman Chuck Ditchman, AIA. “By helping the architects of tomorrow, we are investing in the future.”

The scholarships, awarded yearly, are funded through the chapter’s annual golf outing. The chapter gave $2,000 to each student, and the national organization contributed 50 percent matching funds.

Elizabeth Lee
Iowa State University’s College of Design

Elizabeth Lee of Carol Stream will enter Iowa State University’s College of Design this fall. She is a 2008 graduate of Wheaton North High School, where she was an athlete and honor student and also active in school and volunteer activities. Lee loves the idea of being able to combine several skills: math, science, problem-solving and creativity into one career. Architecture, she said, is “an easy and obvious choice.” She hopes eventually to design homes, but is open to alternative possibilities. “Design is a fulfilling means of expressing oneself and there is such a variety of it, in gradations and categories, that I am entirely open to any project, from historic preservation to an ordinary rehab.”

 

 

 

 

Ryan Reopelle
Judson University

Ryan Reopelle of Elgin, a 2008 graduate of Burlington Central High School, will begin his architectural studies in the fall at Judson University in Elgin. Reopelle became interested in how homes were designed when his family moved in grade school. “I am really intrigued by design and being able to make so many variables come together to make a structure that fits a client’s needs, is unique and looks good,” he said. Planet Earth is a concern as well, and Reopelle wants to concentrate on sustainable design and reducing humans’ impact on the environment.

While in high school, Reopelle, an honor student, was active in sports, school and service clubs and scholastic activities. He is also active in his church.

 

 

 

Jaclyn Richert
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Jaclyn Richert of Western Springs expects to receive her bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2011. Even as a child she liked to ponder the intricacies of design and now, after a year in college, has begun to understand how to think more creatively when employing various design techniques. She’s excited at the thought of driving by a home she designed, years later, and seeing the family living in it, parents on the porch “while children run around the front yard. I want to see the house I designed being enjoyed as a home.”

She is a graduate of Timothy Christian High School, where she participated in a variety of student organizations, including fine arts, yearbook, drama club, student ministries and the peer mentoring program.

 

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