The Charlotte chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has established an endowment to fund in perpetuity two annual student scholarships in the School of Architecture. Committed on the occasion of the School’s 50th anniversary, the gift represents the largest single gift the AIA Charlotte section and its board have made to any organization.
The AIA Charlotte Freshman Scholarship ($2,000) will be awarded annually to one newly admitted undergraduate student, and the AIA Charlotte M-Arch Fellowship ($2,000) will be awarded annually to one graduate student in the Master of Architecture (M-ARCH) program. Recipients will be chosen through an application process; the preference is for the awards to support students from populations that are underrepresented in the field of architecture.
“I am so grateful to AIA Charlotte Executive Director Kate Shelton, AIA Charlotte Board President Jana Gottlieb Hartenstine, AIA, and the full AIA Charlotte Board of Directors for making this unprecedented gift in support of underrepresented students possible,” said Blaine Brownell, director of the School of Architecture. “These scholarships demonstrate AIA Charlotte’s commitment to making architecture a more diverse and equitable field.”
AIA Charlotte and its 12-county regional component is the largest section of AIA North Carolina and one the largest components of the national American Institute of Architects. The deep relationship between AIA Charlotte and the architecture program at UNC Charlotte spans the program’s 50-year history and has included scholarship support, such as the AIA Charlotte Scholarship and the AIA Travelling Scholarship.
“AIA Charlotte has a long-standing commitment of providing two scholarships to our UNC Charlotte SoA students that dates back more than 25 years,” said Hartenstine. “It was subject to renewal every year and financed through the component’s annual operating budget. Thanks to strong support from our leadership, volunteers, members, and sponsors, AIA Charlotte has now funded two permanent endowments with the UNC Charlotte Foundation. These scholarships will support underrepresented populations in the field of architecture and solidifies our commitment to provide opportunity for the future of our profession and to mirror the world in which we live.”