When the faculty in the Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture set out to fill the Marie H. Bickham Endowed Chair for the 2009-2010 academic year they wanted to find someone who embodied the spirit of excellence for which the nation’s No. 2-ranked landscape architecture program is known.

They found him in Glenn Allen, an internationally renowned landscape architect who is also an alumnus of the school’s graduate program. He is principal-in-charge of the London office of Hargreaves Associates and has more than 25 years experience in large scale, complex landscape architecture projects, including the award-winning Sydney Olympics in 2000 and the Parque do Tejo e Trancão in Lisbon, Portugal. Among his most recent projects are the William J. Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, AK, the Shaw Center for the Arts in Baton Rouge, and the Chattanooga Waterfront Park in Tennessee.

“We are delighted that Glenn Allen is joining the faculty of the Robert Reich School this year,” said Dean David Cronrath of the College of Art and Design. “Making an impact hire is very significant for the school and will ensure that the Reich School maintains it’s stature as one of the very best programs in the country.”

While at LSU, Allen will focus on sustainable and informed design, one of the most important topics in architecture and landscape architecture today. He will teach a graduate seminar and a third-year design studio. His undergraduate students will kick off their semester with a field trip to the northeast, where they will visit Toronto, Boston and New York City.

“It’s something that ‘Doc’ Reich instituted years ago because he wanted the students to not be too insular,” Allen says. “He wanted them to see what was going on in the world, which I think was a very good thing.”

Allen says he is extremely excited to be back at LSU. His grandmother grew up on the False River, just north of Baton Rouge, and he still has family in the area so southeast Louisiana is familiar and welcome territory for him.

Allen received his Master of Landscape Architecture from LSU in 1977, and holds a bachelor degree from the University of Virginia. He has lectured extensively around the world and served as visiting juror at several universities, including LSU, University of California, Berkeley, and Harvard. He has received dozens of awards, including numerous awards of excellence from the American Society of Landscape Architects and the American Institute of Architects.