LAEP Alumni

Advancement Board

The LAEP Advancement Board meets twice each year, once during Fall semester and once during Spring semester. These meetings are typically held on USU campus in Logan, Utah, providing opportunities for Board Members to brush shoulders with students and, for many, get back to their Aggie roots.

This year was a bit different. The Fall 2019 Board meeting was held in Salt Lake City at the joint facility of ASLA Utah and AIA (American Institute of Architects) Utah. This unique partnership has been in the works for quite some time and Utah is currently the only state with a shared facility between the two organizations. This partnership provides an opportunity for greater collaboration between the two fields. We see this as an exciting step in advancing our professions. Thank you to both organizations for hosting us in such a beautiful facility!

The Spring 2020 Advancement Board meeting was scheduled to take place in conjunction with the annual LAEP Awards Banquet in April. As it became apparent that the worldwide health crisis was escalating, we made the decision to hold this meeting virtually. Ironically, much of the Fall meeting was centered on ways to “recession-proof” the LAEP Department and provide students with the skills they need to be successful in a competitive industry. This provided an excellent basis for the Spring meeting, which focused on how the industry is adapting to our current circumstances and how students and recent grads will fit into that picture.

Jay Bollwinkel

Randy Jackson

A big thank you to Jay Bollwinkel (BLA 1987) and Randy Jackson (BLA 1970), who have served as the Advancement Board Co-chairs for several years. We are grateful for their diligence in leading the Board and their support of LAEP!

In Memoriam

From time to time, we have to say goodbye to our alumni. We invite you to join us in honoring the lives and impact of these alumni who have recently passed.

- Emery M. Larson, B.S. 1950

- Charles A. Everson, B.S. 1951

- Glenn Lee Baron, B.S. 1958

- Delmar Price, B.S. 1959

- Thomas F. Slater, B.S. 1962

- Lynn T. Fergus, B.S. 1962

- Donald H. Ensign, B.S. 1963

- James Robert Slater, BLA 1969

- Paul Platis, BLA 1973

- Michael D. Preston, BLA 1976

- Larry Ernest Reber, BLA 1984

- David Lawson Trueblood, BLA 1986

- Mark E. Larson BLA, 1987

- Steven C. Heaton BLA, 1991

- Kara Knighton, BLA 2013

2020 Distinguished Alumni

Allysia Angus (MLA, 1999)

Allysia Angus is one of four landscape architects in the BLM. She served as the landscape architect for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM) in Escalante, Utah for more than 15 years. She is now the landscape architect for the BLM’s Paria River District which includes GSENM and the Kanab Field Office. Allysia began her career at the Monument in 2000 as an intern and since that time has worked on a host of planning, design, interpretive, and research projects.

Early in her career, Allysia was a key member of the team that prepared the Scenic Byway 12 Corridor Management Plan as part of the application package to secure designation of the byway as an All-American Road within the National Scenic Byway System, which to date is Utah’s only such acclaimed route. She served for many years on the Scenic Byway 12 Committee and Foundation.

Allysia led the development of BLM’s Guidelines for a Quality Built Environment, which established or reinforced goals related to the image, functionally, performance, and accessibility of all Bureau facilities. Allysia is the longest-standing member of the instructor cadre for the BLM National Training Center’s Visual Resource Management Course. She recently led the effort to prepare the GSENM Visual Resource Inventory which documented the BLM’s highest rated Scenic Quality Rating Unit.

Outside of work, Allysia was the owner/builder of her small straw bale home where she has hosted LAEP’s Women in Landscape Architecture retreats, is the co-director of the Escalante Canyons Art Festival, and volunteers for Best Friends Animal Society’s Trap, Neuter, Release Program.

In addition to her MLA, she holds a BA in Communications and Art from the University of Tennessee.

Jereck Boss (BLA, 1993)

Jereck Boss developed an interest in design, architecture and landscape architecture at an early age. His deep respect for natural topography, innovative “design first” philosophy, and the belief that good design should not be neutralized by limitations – but rather limitations stimulate creative solutions not previously considered, have earned him many awards for his work on various projects.

As a Registered Landscape Architect in Utah, Nevada and Texas with 25 years of professional experience, Jereck began his professional career as an associate at firm local to Utah before becoming a partner at OJB Landscape Architecture’s Houston office, where he has spent the last 15 years overseeing a broad range of institutional, corporate campus, mixed-use, and large-scale urban design projects, including walkable and innovative streetscapes. In addition to leading the design and development of multiple projects across the United States, Jereck also manages operations, marketing and project management for the firm.

Jereck continues to play an active role in the design community as a Board Member with the Rice Design Alliance and former LAEP Advancement Board member. He was elected into the Council of Fellows ASLA in 2018.