College to Present Historic Preservation Award to Richard Jenrette and Thomas Gordon Smith

The College of Charleston’s Historic Preservation and Community Planning Program in the School of the Arts will present the Albert Simons Medal of Excellence to Richard Jenrette for outstanding historic preservation and to Thomas Gordon Smith for outstanding work in design and education.

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The award ceremony will take place November 6, 2014 at 7 p.m. in the Recital Hall in the Simons Center for the Arts (54 St. Philip St.). Admission is free and open to the public. A reception will follow the ceremony.

Jenrette, co-founder of the maverick Wall Street investment bank Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette, wrote “Adventures with Old Houses,” about his experience buying and restoring historic homes across the East coast, especially in New York, but also in the Carolinas. Preservation and restoration are the two major themes in Jenrette’s career and success.

Smith is a leader in contemporary developments of classical architecture. He is the author of various architecture books and publications, and a professor of architecture at the University of Notre Dame. Smith also heads his own firm, Thomas Gordon Smith Architects. His role in contemporary architecture is reflected in more than 20 museum exhibitions in extensive publications of his buildings, and in scholarly publications of his research.

Smith will speak about his own design work and also focus on Jenrette’s “Milford” house, one of the greatest Greek Revival Houses in the United States, located in Sumter County, S.C. at the ceremony.

The Albert Simons Medal of Excellence honors individuals who have excelled in one or more of the areas in which Albert Simons, who pioneered teaching of art at the College in 1924, Simons excelled, including civic design, architectural design, historic preservation and urban planning.

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The Simons Medal was established in honor of the 20th anniversary of the College’s School of the Arts, now on the cusp of its 25th anniversary. The School currently offers studies in seven major areas. Prior Simons Medal recipients include His Royal Highness Prince Charles – The Prince of Wales, Mayor Joseph P. Riley, John D. Milner, Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater–Zyberk, and Allan Greenberg.