FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Mark Boyer, assistant professor of landscape architecture, received a recognition award in the category of young innovative faculty in landscape architecture at the annual meeting of the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) in San Louis Obispo, Calif.

From a pool of about 71 landscape architecture programs across the nation, Boyer was one of only two junior faculty members to receive the recognition award, which goes to a junior and tenured faculty member.

"Mark has very quickly established himself as a teacher and a researcher," said Jeff Shannon, School of Architecture interim dean. "I'm not at all surprised he has received this well-deserved national recognition, and I'm very pleased for him and for the landscape architecture program."

The award is about 10 to 15 years old, and CELA also wanted to insure success of faculty who would be coming up for promotion and/or tenure through this type of recognition.

Each year one to two junior faculty members in CELA member schools are selected from an average of 10 to 20 nominations based on teaching evaluations, a profile letter from the sponsoring school and products from their teaching work.

"Being honored by the nomination was important to me personally, yet I wondered how difficult it would be competing with peers from some of the more notable departments across the country," Boyer said.

Nominations for CELA awards are made by a CELA member, associate member institutions and by individual faculty members not associated with the nominee's university.

"The nomination is a great boost for me and points out both the students' and my colleagues' value of my work here," Boyer said. "Being selected by peers at other institutions validates what the students and my colleagues recognized in the nomination. Being the first recipient of this award in landscape architecture gives the department of landscape architecture, School of Architecture and the University of Arkansas the national exposure it deserves."

The intent of the award is to recognize excellence in teaching, research or public service among faculty of CELA member schools.

The criteria for the nominations are as follows:

. A faculty member of a CELA member school with a minimum of two years at the nominating institution

. Recognition should be for excellence in at least two of the following: teaching, research or public service

. Each institution may nominate one individual

Boyer has taught nine courses at the University of Arkansas since August 1998, when he began his position as assistant professor in landscape architecture. He has almost ten years of teaching experience in landscape architecture, including several years as an instructor at Louisiana State University and the University of Kentucky.

He has authored several publications and has made many presentations at conferences and meetings. Boyer has been a recipient of many prestigious awards, including the department of landscape architecture Faculty Teaching Award for 1999-2000, Louisiana Chapter ASLA President's Award of Excellence in 1998 and the American Society of Landscape Architects Honor Award Recipient in 1996.