"This award recognizes not what I have done, but what Urban Studio and our amazing array of partners have accomplished together. It recognizes the impact of design and design thinking. It acknowledges the potential we have here in Alabama as seen through our 'lens' of assets-based planning in the Small Town Design Initiative Program: showcasing the things that make Alabama special."

Cheryl Morgan is a licensed architect and professor of architecture. She is currently the director of Auburn's Center for Architecture and Urban Studies – Urban Studio in Birmingham, Ala. and is certified by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards. Morgan practiced architecture and urban design in the San Francisco Bay Area before joining the Auburn faculty in 1992. She said her proudest moments are when students tell her they have never worked so hard – and learned so much – as they have at Urban Studio and watching those students thrive. Morgan is a founding board member of the citizen leadership program YourTownAlabama and serves on the City of Birmingham's Design Review Board. Under her direction, the Urban Studio's Small Town Design Initiative Program has worked with more than 70 small towns and neighborhoods in the state, resulting in assets-based illustrative master plans that position communities to leverage their distinctive opportunities. Morgan received the Thomas Jefferson Award from the Jefferson County Historical Commission and the Alabama Chapter of the American Planning Association's Distinguished Leadership Award recognizing her as a "Friend of Planning."