This November marks the inaugural award of the Kenichi Nakano Endowed Scholarship. The scholarship was established to honor Kenichi’s years of teaching, mentoring and practice in landscape architecture. Every year it will be awarded to a University of Washington Landscape Architecture student, with the first being masters student Matt Grosser.

We are proud to be part of our firm’s founder Kenichi Nakano’s legacy by helping sponsor this scholarship. Senior Principal Jim Yamaguchi represented Nakano Associates and the scholarship fund at the recent College of Built Environments Scholarship + Awards Luncheon.

In his thank you message scholarship recipient Matt says:

“I am extremely honored to be selected as the recipient of the 2019-2020 Kenichi Nakano Endowed Student Support Fund… Kenichi’s dedication to the field of landscape architecture and the city of Seattle cannot be understated. I vividly remember attending the exhibit of his life’s work in the Gould Gallery space, during my first year here at UW. I left the gallery that evening extremely impressed with his commitment to improving the social and ecological fabrics of Seattle…Through my work I hope to continue Kenichi’s legacy of activating space for critical change in the face of urbanization and climate change, while also pushing the boundaries of landscape architecture by engaging with a wide range of academic disciplines.”

Following are more photos from the Scholarship + Award Luncheon where Jim and Matt got acquainted and enjoyed a meal.