The original funds for the scholarship were a gift of $3,000 from the Colorado Producers Council to AIA Wyoming in the late 1980s. The endowment fund was created to enhance and promote the teaching and practice of architecture and related fields of engineering, arts and sciences, in memory of Christopher Robin Hard, AIA. During the 1990s, AIA Wyoming started distributing a portion of excess funds from the previous year’s budget to the AEF-AIAWy scholarship fund. Since then, the AEF-AIAWy has asked AIA Wyoming members to make a yearly donation pledge for their firms. AEF-AIAWy also solicits gifts from allied professionals, Wyoming philanthropic organizations and individuals, and holds periodic fundraising events. The AEF-AIAWy has been able to grow the corpus of the scholarship funds to a level where we can sustain the scholarship awards from yearly earnings. We are pleased to report that our scholarship fund has experienced significant growth. As of October 2025, we now have over $430,000 in our scholarship fund.

In 2017, AEF changed the scholarship eligibility requirements to assist more potential future architects. All applicants must still be a graduate of a Wyoming high school, have graduated (or anticipate graduating in the year of application) from the University of Wyoming, or be a current Wyoming resident. Scholarship awards are now tiered to match a student’s progress towards an accredited degree in architecture. College freshmen who have an anticipated path to a degree in architecture and are eligible for a $500 scholarship from AEF. Sophomores, who must be accepted by or enrolled in an accredited school of architecture’s pre-professional program, are eligible for a $750 scholarship. College juniors through Master of Architecture graduate students must be enrolled in an NAAB-accredited school of architecture in a professional program that leads to either a bachelor’s degree or a Master of Architecture degree. Juniors are eligible for $1,000, seniors are eligible for $1,250, and fifth-year and graduate students are eligible for $1,500. The listed amounts are minimums, and the Scholarship Committee may award higher amounts. There is an additional financial incentive for students to work for a Wyoming resident architect for at least eight weeks.

Occasionally, the AEF hosts fundraising events, which we did this year during the fall conference in Sheridan. AEF of AIA Wyoming hosted a golf tournament, the proceeds from which have been directed to our scholarship foundation.

AEF of AIA Wyoming is pleased to announce a total of $15,000 in scholarships awarded this year. Congratulations to the 2025/2026 scholarship recipients:

• Logan Gilbert (junior in 4+2 master’s program) from Sheridan, attending Montana State University, was awarded $5,000.
• Britt Bardman (second year master’s program) from Bondurant, attending Kendall College of Art and Design at Ferris State University, was awarded $4,000.
• Allona Brown (first year) from Green River, attending Montana State University, was awarded $2,500.
• Chesney Malson (first year master’s program) from Kaycee, attending the University of Colorado Denver, was awarded $3,500.

An additional $1,000 was included in recipient scholarships for working a minimum of 320 hours with a Wyoming architectural firm before the start of the current school year.

Finally, some good news: AEF of Wyoming applied for the 2025 AIA Component Matching Scholarship Grant (CMSG) this year and was awarded $1,000. These funds will be directed toward our 2026 scholarship program.

For more information about the Architectural Education Foundation, visit www.aefwy.org. You can also reach us through the AEF Facebook page at www.facebook.com/AEF.AIA.WYO or by contacting any of the board members.