On June 10, Joseph Bilello, dean of the College of Architecture and Planning, will travel to the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles to be inducted into the American Institute of Architects' College of Fellows.
He is the third inductee in Ball State's history to receive this honor.
The American Institute of Architects is a national association of individual professionals in the architecture field. After a minimum of 10 years in the AIA, a person is eligible to be elected into the College of Fellows.
Bilello said being elected into the College of Fellows was immensely gratifying. It affirmed that he had completed a body of work done over a number of years that was deemed to contribute to society, he said.
Bilello was nominated by Wayne Drummond, dean of the University of Nebraska's College of Architecture.
Drummond said he had known Bilello for almost 20 years and believed Bilello had done an outstanding job in architecture and education, and that he should be a member of the College of Fellows.
This is the highest recognition an architect can receive outside of the Gold Medal, which is also awarded by AIA, Drummond said. He said fewer than 2 percent of all members of the AIA get inducted into the College of Fellows.
"I have watched and followed (Bilello's) career as he worked at different universities and at Ball State," Drummond said. "We have talked about issues and concerns in architecture, and he should be fully recognized."
Bilello said a colleague, who is typically already a member in the Fellows, calls the nominee saying it was time to be in the group. Being elected was a time-consuming process in which letters had to be written on the nominee's behalf, and contributions the nominee has made to society in architecture must be shown. Each year a panel in the fellowship selects approximately 60 of about 600 architectures to be inducted into the College of Fellows, he said.
"After going through years of work you remain hopeful that you will get inducted," Bilello said, "but I am pleasantly surprised."
Outside of Ball State, Bilello has served on various international boards related to architecture education and as a teacher and scholar, has worked at five universities. Bilello said he also had his own practice, which won design awards.
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