Meet CED Alums

Three alums will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award at CED’s 2025 Commencement ceremony on May 20 at the Greek Theatre. This year’s awardees are John Cary (MArch 2003), Lee Ehmke (MLA 1988), Sujata Srivastava (MCP 2000). The award honors alums who have exhibited outstanding public service, in its broadest sense, throughout their career.

Cindy Wu (BA Arch 2003), a recognized leader in community development, is the recipient of UC Berkeley’s 2025 Peter E. Haas Public Service Award. She is the CEO of Our Neighborhoods Capital Fund, which preserves and strengthens AAPI neighborhoods, and previously held positions at LISC’s Bay Area office and the Chinatown Community Development Center in San Francisco. Wu is a past president of the San Francisco Planning Commission.

On the occasion of this endowment gift, Hao Ko, FAIA , global director of design at Gensler, reflects on the impact of his undergraduate years in UC Berkeley’s Department of Architecture.

Department of Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning Chair Walter J. Hood (MArch + MLA 1989) has been named the 2025 recipient of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture, the University of Virginia’s highest external honor in the field. Previous recipients include Mies Van Der Rohe, Alvar Aalto, Marcel Breuer, Jose Luis Sert, I.M. Pei, Lawrence Halprin, Fumihiko Maki, Frank O. Gehry, Tod Williams & Billie Tsien, Zaha Hadid, Maya Lin, Rafael Moneo, Laurie Olin, Diébédo Francis Kéré, and Kate Orff.

The College of Environmental Design is delighted to announce that Aleks Baharlo (MArch 1997) will take the helm of the Nancy and Douglas Abbey Master of Real Estate Development + Design as its executive director in January 2025.