Five Designers Earn ASID’s Title of Fellow

Each year, the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) bestows the title of Fellow to individuals who demonstrate outstanding service and contributions to the society, the profession and the interior design industry. It is the highest distinction a member can receive from ASID.

“The 2015 ASID Fellows are recognized for their significant contributions toward improving the built environment and its effect on the human experience,” said Sonya Dufner, FASID, chair of the ASID Council of Fellows and principal and director of workplace strategy at Gensler. “The designers selected for this honor are trailblazers in our industry and, through their contributions to our profession and their dedication to design, they each have made a far-reaching impact on the quality of our lives.”

The 2015 ASID Fellows are: Edward Bottomley, ASID; Trudy Dujardin, ASID, LEED AP+D+C; Joan Kaufman, ASID; Jean Pinto, ASID, CID; and Patrick Schmidt, ASID, RID. They will be inducted on July 18, 2015, at Celebration: The ASID Awards Gala at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

“The 2015 ASID Fellows represent decades of experience and commitment to the Society and the interior design industry,” says ASID CEO Randy Fiser. “Their leadership has helped pave a remarkable course for ASID as we celebrate our 40th year.”

Edward Bottomley
With a staff of 10, CAMA, Inc. is a small design firm. Yet it counts three past-presidents of the ASID Connecticut Chapter among staff members, and is responsible for countless hours of volunteer work on the chapter’s behalf. Craig Smith, a Connecticut designer and chapter member, credits Edward Bottomley, one of the firm’s partners, with creating a culture of volunteerism at the New Haven health care design firm. “The culture that Ed has fostered at CAMA Inc. has allowed its employees to serve their profession,” Smith says. “This has been manifested through the freedom to volunteer and offer the firm’s resources to support each other in that endeavor.” A native of Newport, R.I., Bottomley holds a bachelor’s degree in the history of art and architecture from Yale University. He has spent the past 30 years designing interiors for health care, corporate, education, hospitality and residential environments. In addition to ASID leadership roles at the chapter and national levels, he has served the New Haven community as a volunteer, including as a board member with the New Haven Preservation Trust.

Trudy Dujardin
Trudy Dujardin has built a reputation for designing interiors defined by “eco-elegance and sophisticated style.” In addition to managing her firm, Dujardin Design Associates, with offices in Westport, Conn., and Nantucket, Mass., Dujardin frequently presents her seminar “Holistic House,” on building sustainable homes, and serves as an adjunct professor at Fairfield (Conn.) University. She recently published the book Comfort Zone: Creating the Eco-Elegant Interior. Dujardin earned her bachelor’s degree from Southern Connecticut State University, completed graduate work at the Parsons School of Design and New York University, and is a LEED accredited professional with a specialty in interior design and construction. “Trudy is a passionate educator on environmental issues,” says Annette Stelmack, founding principal of Inspirit LLC, a sustainable design consultancy firm in Louisville, Colo. “She is involved with some of the nation’s leading organizations dedicated to protecting the environment.” As a co-founder of the Design Futures Council’s Architects Environment Summit, in 2002 Dujardin helped create the Nantucket Principles, which continue to serve as guidelines for sustainable built environments.

Joan Kaufman
Joan Kaufman, principal of Interior Planning & Design, Inc., Naperville, Ill., approaches design projects as creating a total environment through lighting, color, space planning, texture, furniture and fabric. She brings numerous disciplines to her design, including feng shui, which links space design to how a person experiences the world. In addition to being a certified feng shui practitioner, Kaufman is LEED accredited. She earned bachelor’s degrees in interior design and art from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and studied art and architectural studies at the Loyola University Rome Center. John Cialone, of Tom Stringer Design Partners, Chicago, and a member of the ASID Illinois Chapter, noted some of Kaufman’s many ASID achievements. “Joan has been a member of ASID since 1985, is a past president of the Illinois Chapter, has served ASID nationally, and earned a National Presidential Citation Award,” he says. “Currently she serves as chair for the Illinois Interior Licensing Board.” Widely published and quoted, Kaufman was named “Favorite Interior Designer” by Naperville magazine Glancer in its 2014 Readers Choice Awards.

Jean Pinto
Jean Pinto’s interior design career has spanned more than a half century, beginning with her first post-college position establishing a design department for a retail furniture store. Although she has experienced decades of change in the interior design industry throughout her career, she has consistently been committed to advancing the profession through ASID. “Jean’s first challenge was to find a college in 1959 that had a major in interior design,” says Fernando Diaz of Fernando Diaz & Associates, Los Angeles. “After that, everything came together.” Pinto joined the Woodbury University student chapter of the American Institute of Interior Designers (AID), one of the Society’s predecessor organizations, while earning her bachelor’s degree in interior design. In the years that followed, she has held ASID leadership positions within the Los Angeles Chapter and as a national Foundation trustee. Currently a self-employed interior designer, she has been an active volunteer with the Special Olympics and serves as a professional advisor at both Westwood College and her alma mater, Woodbury College.

Patrick Schmidt
Patrick Schmidt’s volunteer achievements and activities fill pages. In addition to holding various offices with the ASID Indiana Chapter during the past 20 years, he has served the organization on the national level and is currently a member of the ASID Board of Directors. He’s earned recognition and honors for his volunteer work as well, including four National Presidential Citation Awards. Outside of ASID, Schmidt has worked with a number of charitable organizations, including food pantries and for a Rotary Club program drilling water wells in Sierra Leone. He received a Distinguished Hoosier Award for volunteer service from former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels in 2006. Schmidt has worked for J. Baker Interiors LLC, Carmel, Ind., for 29 years and is currently the firm’s senior interior designer. “Patrick has volunteered many hours to the Indiana Chapter and to the Society on the national level while continuing to volunteer for other worthwhile local organizations,” said Diana Bryant of db interiors, Indianapolis. “He has been recognized with many citations for outstanding service to the chapter, service awards for committee work, and is a five-time recipient of the Golden Apple Award presented by the chapter president—the greatest number received by a member of the chapter.”