Brenton Wadsworth attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and graduated from the Department of Landscape Architecture in 1952. Following that, he worked in the offices of Robert Bruce Harris, an architect who specialized in golf course design. A few years later, after a two-year interlude in the U.S. Air Force, he partnered with Edward L. Packard to form Packard and Wadsworth, a golf course design company. At that time, Wadsworth noticed a general lack of construction expertise among golf course designers. In 1958, therefore, he founded the Wadsworth Golf Construction Company, exclusively specializing in building golf courses. His company is among the largest golf construction firms in the U.S. and has offices in five states. Their portfolio boasts over 800 completed golf course construction projects, which include: Shadow Creek in Las Vegas, the Desert Courses in Arizona, and the remodels of Augusta National Golf Club and Greenbriar.

Since Wadsworth’s time here at the University of Illinois he has given a great deal back to the Department of Landscape Architecture. Wadsworth cites “good values” as one of his primary motivations for donating. He whole-heartedly ascribes to the rule of ABCD: arise early, be well informed of current issues, care for everyone, and do what is decent. These values, coupled with his fond memories of gathering with classmates around the Coke machine in the basement of Mumford, motivate him to help future students, in the hopes that they have a similarly rewarding and memorable experience at the University of Illinois.

In 1998, the Brenton and Jean Wadsworth Endowment was created to support faculty research, scholarship, and creative activities that would demonstrate the value of landscape architecture to society. Over the past twelve years, awards have been made to eighteen faculty members, supporting more than twenty graduate students, on thirty different projects. So far we count: six scholarly articles; five technical reports; five books; four conferences or symposia; and ten projects that added support for design workshops and studios. 

And that is just the beginning. The Wadsworths are also responsible for initiating the Landscape Architecture Scholarship Fund (2003), providing a full semester of tuition support for continuing students. This has had many important benefits for students, as well as for their families. Since 2004, twenty-two students in landscape architecture have received the Wadsworth Scholarship, helping them continue in their studies. Among the 27 BLA graduates of 2011, seven among them have received a Wadsworth Scholarship.

To ease the transition of more advanced students into the profession, the Wadsworths established the Business Emphasis Scholarship and Internship in Landscape Architecture (2006). This will assist those students embarking on the new required internship in landscape architecture to offset the initial expenses of going to work away from home, but also to be able to intern in community service or not-for-profit organizations that may be unable to pay interns a living wage. The Intern Scholarship helps students understand various forms and values of professionalism as they, too, give back to society. 

As the next class prepares to graduate and depart from familiar academic surroundings, Brent Wadsworth offers a few words of advice: “stay flexible, no matter what.” He recalls that he did not intend to end up in the construction field—he simply saw a need, and filled it. Wadsworth stresses that there is a lot of work to be done in fields related to landscape architecture, and so encourages students to explore their options more broadly.

As Brenton and Jean Wadsworth have demonstrated, success can be measured in many ways. One recent recipient of the Wadsworth Scholarship wrote,

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Wadsworth…I cannot begin to tell you how much I enjoy the career path that I have chosen. The endless opportunities to be creative, and the practical applications of site engineering and construction…are just a few of the aspects I enjoy most. It is also such a blessing to be part of a major where lifelong relationships are formed with others who have similar interests.

Very few can claim to have made such positive and formative contributions to young landscape architects and the growth of our programs here at the University of Illinois. Due to these contributions, Brenton Wadsworth has received the University of Illinois Alumni Association’s Achievement Award for 2011. On behalf of the whole Department, especially its students and alumni, we are deeply grateful for the generosity and vision of Brenton and Jean Wadsworth.