Architect Reese Rowland honored with AIA Arkansas E. Fay Jones gold medal
Architect Reese Rowland.
AIA Arkansas awarded its highest professional honor — the E. Fay Jones Gold Medal — to Reese Rowland, FAIA, principal at Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects.
The award recognizes a career defined by design excellence, environmental stewardship, and transformative community impact.
“Reese demonstrates how a single idea, passion, or creative gesture can shape cityscapes, foster human connection, and honor the natural environment. Few architects have influenced Arkansas as deeply as Reese,” said David Porter, CEO of Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects.
Rowland has worked on a number of award-winning projects including the Heifer International Headquarters in Little Rock; the Central Arkansas Library System’s Arkansas Studies Institute, the Hillary Rodham Clinton Children’s Library, and CALS new main library redesign; the U.S. Marshals Museum in Fort Smith, Bank OZK headquarters in Little Rock, the Pine Bluff Main Library, Acxiom’s River Market Tower in Little Rock; Murphy Oil’s El Dorado headquarters, and the Arkansas State Parks Visitor Centers at Pinnacle Mountain and Jacksonport.
Rowland grew up in Paris, Arkansas, at the foot of Mount Magazine. His work has earned more than 80 national, regional, and state awards, including over 35 from the American Institute of Architects (AIA), and has been featured in 12 books and 25 national journals.
The E. Fay Jones Gold Medal, named after one of Arkansas’ most renowned architects, honors individuals who have demonstrated a lifetime of notable contributions to architecture.
Established in 1977, Polk Stanley Wilcox is an Arkansas-based, architectural design practice with offices in Little Rock and Fayetteville.