Students Kendra Harris and Faith Lohr were named the recipients of the 2026 Walter B. Jones, Jr., FAIA Excellence Award for Aspiring Healthcare Architects during the Awards Luncheon at the 2026 Healthcare Design Conference + Expo in New Orleans.
The award, sponsored by Healthcare Design, seeks to identify students and aspiring architects from underrepresented populations to nurture their talent and interest in healthcare design.
Winners are presented with full-conference passes and travel assistance to attend the HCD Conference + Expo, which is being held Oct. 17-20 in New Orleans.
Meet the scholarship winners
Harris earned her Master of Architecture degree with honors from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD; Savannah, Ga.) in 2026. Her master’s thesis explored the social determinants of health with a focus on wellness design for neighborhoods and built environments to empower inner city residents.
Lohr graduated with honors from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech; Blacksburg, Va.) in 2026, receiving a Bachelor of Science in interior design.
Presenter Taft Cleveland, associate, healthcare planner, at SmithGroup (Chicago), described Lohr as “passionate about creating empathetic healthcare environments that deliver lasting, positive change and support for people during vulnerable moments.”
About Walter B. Jones, Jr.
Jones, a highly respected architect, mentor, and trailblazer in the healthcare design industry, died in December 2023.
Throughout his career, which included transformative projects for Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas and The MetroHealth System in Cleveland, Jones was a champion for diversity in healthcare design and health equity in the communities he served.
More news from the 2026 HCD Conference + Expo
More coverage of the 2026 HCD Conference + Expo will be featured in Healthcare Design’s November/December issue. For more conference news and updates, go here.
