The College of Architecture recently awarded its top honor, the Shutze Medal, to two of its most distinguished alumni. Merrill Elam (B. Arch ’71) and Mack Scogin (B. Arch ’66), 2012 winners of the National Design Award for architecture awarded by the Smithsonian and the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum, were honored at a ceremony on June 26.

 The highest honor given by the Georgia Tech College of Architecture, the Shutze Medal was created in 1981 to recognize alumni, friends or faculty who made a significant contribution to the life of the College. It is named for Phillip Trammell Shutze, renowned Atlanta architect and 1912 alumnus of the College, who designed such buildings as the Academy of Medicine and the Swan House.

“I am honored to bestow the Shutze Medal to Mack and Merrill," said Alan Balfour, dean of the College of Architecture. “Not only are they among a small group of the highly creative designers internationally who are renewing the idea of architecture, they are both gifted teachers who have taught at Georgia Tech and whose inspiration in part draws from the culture of the South."

 Elam and Scogin join a short list of only 10 highly accomplished individuals who have been honored with this award. Past recipients include Preston Stevens, Sr. (1983), Hugh Stubbins (1987), Tom Ventulett (1999), and, most recently, John Portman (2013).