The AIA San Fernando Valley Fund has gifted a $156,000 endowment to Woodbury School of Architecture. Proceeds from the endowment will go toward funding scholarships to Architecture and Interior Architecture students at Woodbury.

The scholarships are awarded annually to undergraduate and graduate students based on their architecture program portfolios. The awards are funded through an endowment created by the San Fernando Valley chapter of AIA (AIA|SFV), a professional association whose members are comprised of licensed architects and dedicated to furthering the architecture profession in local communities.

Since 2001, AIA|SFV has awarded more than $120,000 in scholarships to approximately 120 Woodbury School of Architecture students.

Eleven undergraduate and graduate students from the School of Architecture have been named recipients of scholarship awards totaling $7,000 as part of its 2016-17 Grand Critique, an annual School-wide event celebrating top architecture and interior architecture students.

Students William Ellsworth, Michael Turk and Jessica Gardner were named winners of $1,000 scholarships from AIA|SFV, as part of the Annual Grand Critique. Ellsworth received the Rudolph De Chellis FAIA Scholarship Award, which recognizes the outstanding student architect as voted on by fellow Woodbury architecture students. Turk earned the George G. Terpatsi AIA Memorial Scholarship, which honors the student with the highest GPA, and Gardner was presented with the Joel Jaffe, AIA and Robin Jaffe, AIA Award, which honors a top student selected by faculty members from WSoA.

Five undergraduate Architecture students, including one from the School of Architecture’s Interior Architecture program, received scholarships of $500 each. Recipients included Myint Tun, Dylan Bachar, Olga Zakharova and Kristel Marquez. Graduate student JunJie (Jasper) Liao was honored for his student portfolio. Also receiving $500 scholarships were graduate students Genevieve Enriquez, Joanna Jankowska and graduate student in Interior Architecture Sarah Koshk Noei.

According to Fund President Joel Jaffe, “We are fulfilled by having been able to provide the donation because it satisfies what we believe is our fundamental motivation: to give back to architectural education in gratitude for what it has given to us. We are hopeful that the gift and gesture will become a cairn that marks a milestone and pathway for others who see the importance of encouraging and supporting students, the future stewards of our built environment.”

“We are deeply grateful to the AIA|SFV chapter and to the AIASFV Fund for their philanthropic efforts,” said Ingalill Wahlroos-Ritter, AIA, Interim Dean of Woodbury School of Architecture. “Their support provides a model for other chapters to follow.”

“Our collaboration with AIA|SFV and the AIASFV Fund makes a world of difference for our students as they graduate and begin their careers.” ~Ingalill Wahlroos-Ritter, AIA

In the 2017 DesignIntelligence rankings, Woodbury’s Bachelor of Architecture program was rated 23rd among the nation’s accredited undergraduate architecture programs. The undergraduate Interior Architecture program is now ranked 15th out of a pool of more than 190 schools nationwide. Given the modest size of the University and the quality of the competition throughout the country, the rankings speak volumes about WSoA’s excellence.

In 2015, Woodbury’s Architecture program was accepted by the National Council of Architects Registration Boards (NCARB) as one of only 18 programs in the country whose students will now have an opportunity to achieve architectural licensure upon graduation. Woodbury is the only school of architecture where the IPAL program is available to both undergraduate and graduate students.

Woodbury University’s School of Architecture is a network of hubs strategically sited within the Southern California megalopolis: Burbank/Los Angeles, San Diego and Hollywood. Together, they form a critical infrastructure for architectural investigations. The school’s undergraduate and graduate programs in architecture and interior architecture educate students as entrepreneurs, architect citizens, and cultural builders.

Learn more about our programs here.