American Institute of Architects (AIA) Georgia President and Southern Polytechnic State University Associate Professor William J. Carpenter has been awarded the A. Leicester Hyde Chair for Excellence at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.

This fellowship was founded by A. Leicester Hyde, a 1925 graduate of Architecture and Engineering at the University of Nebraska. Established in 1986, the fellowship allows the Nebraska College of Architecture to attract faculty of national and international stature and distinction. Through this endowment, renowned scholars and practitioners are invited to work teaching architecture, interior design and planning.

"I am honored to receive this because it's really an honor for our design-build studio, an integral part of the program at Southern Polytechnic, " said Carpenter. "To follow the great people who have served as Hyde Chairs is an outstanding recognition of our work in the School of Architecture."

Past Hyde Chairs include past AIA Gold Medalist Joseph Esherick, Wolf Prix of Germany, Peter Cook of Great Britain, and Merrill Elam of Atlanta. This type of chairmanship is the only one of its kind in the United States.

Mr. Carpenter is author of the book "Learning by Building, Design and Construction in Architectural Education." He has received the AIA National Young Architects Citation, as well as the 1998 AIA South Atlantic Region Design award for the design of an architecture studio.