Carpenter Wins Statewide Historic Preservation Honor
LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 10, 2010) − Clyde Carpenter, chair of the University of Kentucky Department of Historic Preservation, is this year's recipient of the Ida Lee Willis Memorial Award. The award is presented to an individual who has demonstrated outstanding dedication to the cause of historic preservation in the Commonwealth.
Ida Lee Willis Memorial Preservation Awards are presented each May, in observance of National Historic Preservation Month, and recognize those who have demonstrated an understanding of and an appreciation for the value of preserving and reusing Kentucky’s historic and prehistoric resources, whether through the restoration of an important structure or community resource or through a lifetime commitment to encouraging and promoting historic preservation. The awards are named for the late Ida Lee Willis, who was appointed first executive director of the Kentucky Heritage Commission (now the Kentucky Heritage Council) in 1966.
Carpenter was presented with the 2010 Ida Lee Willis Memorial Award for his lifelong commitment to preservation and design, his leadership in the UK College of Design, and his dedication to educating students and others of the value of Kentucky’s built environment. The honor was bestowed at an awards program held May 26, at the Kentucky Governor's Executive Mansion, in Frankfort. The event was sponsored by the Ida Lee Willis Memorial Foundation and presented in partnership with the Kentucky Heritage Council/State Historic Preservation Office.
The awards program also included the presentation of Preservation Project Awards, which recognized outstanding examples of restoration or rehabilitation of historic buildings, or other types of projects that have had a positive impact on Kentucky’s built environment, and the Service to Preservation Awards, which honored those who have furthered historic preservation activities or had a positive impact in their communities, including individuals, organizations, public officials, financial institutions, news media, and/or volunteers.
Serving as the Clay Lancaster Endowed Professor of Historic Preservation, Carpenter also serves the UK College of Design as a professor of architecture and is a former interim dean. His areas of specialty are residential architectural design, both new construction as well as renovation/restoration/adaptive re-use of historic structures, and the modern house in Kentucky, about which he is writing a book with Gregory Luhan, associate dean of research at the College of Design. A fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA), Carpenter earned his bachelor's degree in civil and architectural engineering from UK and his master's degree with academic honors in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania.