Kona Gray, who is the principal of the planning, landscape architecture, and urban design firm EDSA, Inc., has been named the 2023-24 recipient of the Department of Landscape Architecture’s John R. Bracken Fellowship.
Titled “Grounded Landscapes – Exploring the Land, Sea and Culture,” Gray’s lecture will explore a new understanding and appreciation for the land and sea, discover the possibilities of connecting cultures with the environment, and celebrate diversity highlighting a common human future.
As a firm leader with 30 years of international experience, Gray’s global design and management sense has helped shape many environments. He envisions welcoming places that promote quality of life in diverse neighborhoods worldwide.
As the principal of EDSA, Gray's portfolio includes award-winning developments that solve meaningful global issues with an emphasis on communities, parks, hospitality, museums, aquariums, healthcare, and campuses.
Gray, an American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Fellow and current ASLA president-elect, is a registered landscape architect in four states. He serves on the advisory boards of both the University of Miami Architecture School’s master of real estate development and urbanism program and the Nova Southeastern University's master of science in real estate development program. He is also on the University of Georgia School of Environment and Design Dean’s Council.
Gray is a past president of the Landscape Architecture Foundation and is an active member of the Urban Land Institute. He holds a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture from the University of Georgia and a commercial real estate certificate from Cornell University.
Each year, the Bracken Fellow is honored with the presentation of the Bracken medal, designed by former professor of art at Penn State John Cook. Bracken was a key part of the landscape architecture department’s history. He served as department head at Penn State from 1924 to 1957 and continued to serve the department until he died in 1979.