The Gary Y. Kaplan Scholarship Award


At  their December meeting, the Jersey Shore Chapter of the American Institute of Architects recognized Kevin Dummer as the recipient of the Gary Y. Kaplan Scholarship Award. Mr. Dummer attends Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA, and participates in Drexel’s co-operative program (he works full time at a small architectural firm while attending school). Having received a B.S. in Architecture from the University of Minnesota he hopes to complete the Bachelor of Architecture program at Drexel and the Intern Development Program at the same time so that he can immediately take the tests to become a licensed architect. He currently has a 3.65 GPA and one of his designs won a 2006 IZE Prize: Special Award for Graphics.

Mr. Dummer is the first recipient of the scholarship award that was initiated to commemorate Gary Y. Kaplan, FAIA, the founder of Kaplan Gaunt DeSantis Architects. For over thirty-five years, Mr. Kaplan worked as an architect in the Red Bank area.  He was particularly sensitive to the built environment and how it affected the disabled community. As a professional activist, spirited collaborator, and entrepreneur, he led the profession beginning in the late-sixties in developing barrier-free standards with the New Jersey Easter Seal Society, when such standards were not commonly accepted.  The standards developed with Mr. Kaplan’s assistance have become the basis for the current barrier-free building codes of New Jersey and the model codes for many national standards.