In a momentous tribute to a distinguished career, Joe Pepitone, a principal at GRAEF with over 36 years of landscape architecture experience, has been honored with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award by the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (WI ASLA).

This esteemed accolade recognizes Pepitone's contributions to the landscape architecture profession over the span of an illustrious career. A key figure at GRAEF, he has become an instrumental part of how the firm practices and how GRAEF itself is recognized within the landscape architecture profession.

Beginning his career in California, Joe brings a multi-regional approach to our practice that blends aesthetics, functionality, accessibility, and creativity. Since joining GRAEF about 17 years ago, Joe has continued to grow our landscape architecture team into what it is today. Serving as the Practice Area Leader, he has been the driving force behind many local projects including many on his alma mater’s campus. Some of his most recent projects on campus include the landscape design at the Bakke Recreational & Wellbeing Center, the University of Wisconsin – Madison Chemistry Building, and the University of Wisconsin – Madison Sports and Recreation Master Plan.

"Joe has been an incredibly supportive and encouraging mentor for me as I continue to grow in my career. His breadth of experience, often, helps me better understand unique situations that occur in the design process," said Alex Thill, Landscape Designer at GRAEF. "He has immense knowledge of the technical aspects of landscape architecture, and that has helped me better understand what has worked, what will work, and what won’t work as it pertains to design and construction."

Please join us in congratulating Joe Pepitone on this well-deserved recognition of a lifetime dedicated to shaping the world around us through visionary landscape architecture.