Architecture Senior Receives 2024 President’s Award

The President’s Award recognizes one student in each Auburn University school or college who has completed at least three semesters with a minimum grade-point average of 3.40 and who possesses outstanding qualities of leadership, citizenship, character and promise of professional ability. Nominated for the award by faculty in the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture (APLA), Jefferson will graduate in May with a Bachelor of Architecture.

Originally from Montgomery, Alabama, Jefferson is the recipient of the Frank J. Sindelar Scholarship, Auburn Board of Trustees Scholarship, Together We Will Scholarship and Barbara Drummond Thorne Endowed Scholarship. He has been recognized with numerous accolades—including the 2023 CADC Outstanding Undergraduate Student in Architecture Award, Student’s Choice First Place in the 2021 Wood Design Competition and the 2023 Essay Writing Book Award—and has been consistently named to the Dean’s List.

Jefferson is currently conducting research on the structures and flaws within the American prison system. He aims to understand how architects and designers can help create better opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals to re-integrate with society.

He served as President of Auburn’s chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architecture Students (NOMAS) for two years. Auburn NOMAS recently secured second place in the 2023 Barbara G. Laurie Student Design Competition in Portland, Oregon. He also served as a CADC Ambassador and a CADC Student Council Representative.

As a student, Jefferson completed multiple internships with Montgomery-based architecture firms. He plans to seek a position in a respected architectural firm after graduation and aims to obtain licensure and LEED certification in the next few years.

“Leonard has demonstrated exemplary performance as a designer and leader during his years at Auburn,” shared Matt Hall, Associate Professor and Associate Architecture Chair. “He’s a model for what we hope a professional will be: precise yet flexible, open-minded but always willing to take a stand and most importantly, focused on the real-world issues that architecture can address.”