Capitol Administrator Honored by AIA-Nebraska

Robert C. Ripley, FAIA, Nebraska Capitol Administrator, Office of the Capitol Commission, is the recipient of the 2015 Harry F. Cunningham Gold Medal for Architectural Excellence in the State of Nebraska. The Gold Medal is the highest honor the Nebraska Chapter of The American Institute of Architects (AIA) can bestow and is awarded in recognition of the most distinguished achievement in architecture or service to the profession of architecture in the State of Nebraska. Nominators Dan Worth, AIA, BVH Architects and Fred Zarate, AIA, State of Nebraska said, “Nebraskans of all ages have been positively affected by Robert C. Ripley’s passion for public service, architecture and particularly by his passion for the conservation and preservation of the Nebraska State Capitol. Bob has been the caretaker, the steward, and the guardian of Nebraska’s history as depicted and beautifully contained within the walls and grounds of Bertram Goodhue’s monumental Capitol.”  For more than 32 years, Ripley’s core job has been to restore and preserve the Nebraska State Capitol, a National Historic Landmark, including the creation of a legacy Capitol Master Plan that will guide conservation of this national treasure for hundreds of years to come.

Robert C. Ripley, FAIA, Capitol Administrator holding the Cunningham Gold Medal, poses with the AIA-Nebraska Chapter President Tom Hesson and nominator Fred Zarate, AIA and Laurie Richards representing nominator Dan Worth, AIA at the 2015 AIA-Nebraska Awards program held at the SAC Federal Credit Union Headquarters on September 10, 2015. 

The Gold Medal commemorates the achievements of Harry Francis Cunningham who came to Nebraska as lead architect for Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue’s office during completion of the tower phase of construction for the State Capitol following Goodhue’s death in 1924. It was Goodhue’s revolutionary building design which won the nationwide competition in 1920 for the creation of the state house in Lincoln. Cunningham subsequently established the first school of architecture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.