Published: April 18, 2000

University of Colorado at Boulder Campus Architect Bill Deno has been accepted into the distinguished College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects.

Deno was one of 83 newly elected members out of 269 candidates to receive the designation for this year. Curt Dale of Anderson Mason Dale Architects joins Deno as the only other Colorado fellow elected this year.

The investiture ceremony will be held at the national convention of the AIA in Philadelphia on May 4.

Deno is being honored for his contributions in providing an improved physical environment on campus to ensure the advancement of the living standards of those who live and learn in it.

"The beauty and architectural consistency for CU-Boulder is due, in large part, to the efforts and passion of Bill Deno during the past 20 years to make the campus one of the most attractive in the world," said Jeff Lipton, executive director of CU-Boulder's Department of Facilities Management.

The honor is conferred on architects with at least 10 years of membership in the AIA. Fewer than 2,300 of more than 66,000 AIA members are currently distinguished as fellows.

Deno has received several awards in recognition of his role as Campus Architect since 1991, including the 1997 Architect of the Year award by the Colorado chapter of the AIA and the CU-Boulder Alumni Association's Robert L. Stearns Award for outstanding achievement and service to the university, also in 1997.

Deno, a CU-Boulder graduate with bachelor's and master's degrees in architecture received in 1972 and 1973, joined the university as a project planner and coordinator in 1973. Last May, Deno stepped down after 15 years with the Department of Facilities Management as Director of Facilities Planning to concentrate on his position as Campus Architect.

Deno is an authority on the university's distinctive Tuscan-inspired architecture. In 1994, he published "Body & Soul: Architectural Style at the University of Colorado at Boulder," a book about the history and vision behind the architecture of one of the nation's most admired campuses.