Acclaimed Landscape Architect Gary Hilderbrand Returns to ESF for Richard S. Hawks Lecture

11/13/2026

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Nov. 13, 2026 — Gary Hilderbrand was the featured speaker for the 2026 Richard S. Hawks ’72 Lecture Nov. 12 at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF). Hildebrand spoke on Writing on the Surface of the Earth.

Hilderbrand is one of the nation’s most distinguished landscape architects and an alumnus of ESF’s landscape architecture program. He is a founding principal of Reed Hilderbrand, recipient of the American Society of Landscape Architects’ 2013 Firm of the Year Award, and chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he holds the Peter Louis Hornbeck Professorship in Practice. He received the 2017 ASLA Design Medal, the profession’s highest honor for an individual designer, and is a recipient of the Rome Prize. His firm’s work, recognized with more than 100 regional and national awards, includes significant cultural and public landscapes such as the Clark Art Institute, Storm King Art Center, and Boston City Hall Plaza.

In 2021, ESF recognized Hilderbrand with its Alumni Association Lifetime Achievement Award.

“We are pleased to welcome distinguished alumnus Gary Hilderbrand back to ESF to give students a firsthand view of the impact an ESF education can have on the world,” said ESF President Joanie Mahoney. “Their experiences connect classroom learning to professional practice and inspire the next generation of environmental leaders and designers. These visits also strengthen the bonds between our alumni and the College, creating opportunities for mentorship, collaboration and lifelong engagement.”

The annual lecture was hosted by the College’s Department of Landscape Architecture to honor legacy of Richard S. Hawks, a beloved educator, mentor, and longtime chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture, who passed away in early 2024. The series celebrates his enduring contributions to landscape architecture education and the generations of students and colleagues he inspired.

About SUNY ESF  

The SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry is one of the nation's premier colleges focused on the study of the environment, developing renewable technologies, and building a sustainable future. ESF’s mission is to educate future environmental leaders of all backgrounds, advance knowledge, and skills necessary to promote scholarship and stewardship of the natural to designed environments, and act both locally and globally to Improve Our World. ESF’s students, faculty, staff, and alumni make a global impact on improving and sustaining the environment. ESF offers a world-class education among a close-knit community of more than 2,000 scholars with common values and a shared sense of purpose. ESF’s tight-knit community is centered alongside Syracuse University in the heart of Central New York and has a system of properties spanning 25,000 acres that broadly represent New York state’s rich ecological diversity for scientific study and instruction. To learn more, visit suny.edu.