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Home » News » IA&D’s Inaugural Alumni Awards Celebrate Interior Design Excellence

IA&D’s Inaugural Alumni Awards Celebrate Interior Design Excellence

Published March 18, 2020

The Department of Interior Architecture and Design unveiled a new program to recognize the service, advocacy, and contributions of its alumni to the field of interior design in February. The Distinguished Service, Distinguished Alumni, and Young Alumni awards honor the significant accomplishments of past students of this department, holding up their successes for our students, faculty and the public to appreciate. These awards celebrate role models that have dedicated their lives to work that has enhanced the profession. In concert with the department’s Advisory Council, applications from a public call to alumni are reviewed by a panel of judges.

Distinguished Service Award

Sue Markham

Sue Markham

Sue Markham is a national Fellow of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) with both a Bachelors and Masters degrees in Interior Design from FSU. She is NCIDQ qualified, a Florida Licensed Interior Designer and, for many years, was actively involved in the legislative process to pass the Interior Design Practice Act in Florida. Prior to her retirement in 2018, Markham served as the Team Leader – Building Design, Construction & Operations at Gulf Power, A Southern Company. Markham is an Emeritus member of the FSU Department of Interior Architecture & Design’s Advisory Council, having served since its inception in 2008.  Sue’s influence on our department and the university has been long and enduring.

 

 

Distinguished Alumni Award

Judy Brett

Judy Brett

Judy Brett graduated from FSU with her degree in Interior Design in 1972 and then served as an adjunct professor, establishing the first internships within her Tallahassee offices, and then continually worked with FSU interns for twenty successive years. She was instrumental in separating the Department of Interior Design from Home Economics and realigning it with the arts at FSU. Her Tallahassee commercial interior design firm, Designs 20 Inc., developed notable design projects across the city and her volunteer efforts include many years on the Department’s Advisory Council, the Economic Development Commission, and very notably, 23 years lobbying the Florida legislature on behalf of the interior design profession.

 

 

Young Alumni Award

Ronnie Belizaire

Ronnie Belizaire is currently the Corporate Real Estate Manager for the Americas region with Daimler AG (Mercedes Benz). She is a Vice President on the Board of Directors of the International Interior Design Association (IIDA), has chaired the IIDA Foundation, and previously served as the Georgia IIDA chapter president. If that wasn’t enough, her design consultant work with Engineering Ministries International has taken her to Haiti to perform critically needed humanitarian work. These qualities set her apart in the community and superbly reflect the ideals of the Young Alumni Award.

 

 

Each of these awards honors role models that have dedicated their lives to work that has enhanced our profession. We are grateful to be part of such a strong community and look forward to celebrating our alumni through these awards in future years.