Penn & Teller

For 35 years Penn & Teller have defied labels – and at times physics and good taste – by redefining the genre of magic and inventing their own very distinct niche in comedy.

With an amazing six wins, including 2011, as "Las Vegas Magicians of the Year," their 10-year run at The Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino makes them one of the longest running and most-beloved shows in Las Vegas history, outselling every other resident magician on The Strip.

Their acclaimed Showtime series, "Penn & Teller: BS!" has been nominated for 13 Emmys and is the longest-running series in the history of the network. The show tackles the fakes and frauds behind such topics as alien abduction, psychics and bottled water. Their newest television venture, "Penn & Teller Tell A Lie" premiered on the Discovery Channel on October 5, 2011.

Along the way, they've written three New York Times Best-Sellers, hosted their own Emmy nominated variety show for FX, starred in their own specials for ABC, NBC and Comedy Central and produced the critically lauded feature film documentary The Aristocrats.

As individuals, they are just as prolific. Teller directed a version of Macbeth that toured the East Coast to raves from The New York Times and Wall Street Journal and has written two books. Penn has written three books, including the 2011 New York Times best seller "God No!," hosted the NBC game show Identity and donned his ballroom shoes for the 2008 season of ABC's hit Dancing With The Stars.

With inclusions in The New York Times crossword puzzle, as answers on Jeopardy and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, their status as cultural icons and the preeminent duo in comedy was once again reinforced when Katy Perry personally asked them to co-star in the 2009 video for her #1 song, "Waking Up in Vegas."

George Garlock, AIA

Under the leadership of the founding principals, George Garlock and Ed Kittrell, Jr., KGA Architecture grew from its initial five employees to more than 80 employees, including the opening of an additional office in Austin, Texas, and is recognized as of one of the leading architectural firms in the Southwest. Their partnership is among the longest-standing in Nevada architectural history.

The firm enjoys a significant and diverse portfolio including healthcare, education, hospitality, government/public safety, and major commercial projects. Garlock, as Founding Principal in Charge of Design for KGA Architecture for over three decades, has been recognized with more than 120 professional design awards at the local, state, regional, and national levels. The firm also earned the coveted American Institute of Architects Nevada Architectural Firm Award in 2000. Most dear to Garlock's heart are those projects that have touched the students and faculty of UNLV, including the Thomas T. Beam Engineering Complex, Rod Lee Bigelow Health Sciences Building, Carol C. Harter Classroom Office Complex, Lied Athletic Complex, and John S. Wright Hall Complex.

As a mentor, Garlock has committed significant time and energy to the development of young architects in an educational setting, and his support of the Intern Development Program has been extensive. As past Nevada State Board liaison to the American Institute of Architects IDP Program and serving on the UNLV Architecture Advisory Committee, he has helped strengthen the bond between the educational environment and the profession. Along with many other individuals, Garlock focused his attention towards a goal of establishing an accredited architectural program at UNLV. That effort includes five years teaching design classes as an adjunct faculty member in the up-and-coming department of architecture prior to the program receiving its NAAB accreditation in 1997.

Garlock's passion for the profession has led him to important leadership roles significant to the profession of Architecture, including being a Past President of The American Institute of Architects, Las Vegas Chapter in 1988, as well as serving as Past Chairman and current Board Member of the Nevada State Board of Architecture, Interior Design and Residential Design since 1999. He also remains active in the civic and cultural life of Las Vegas including being a past Board Member of the Nevada Institute of Contemporary Art, a Board of Regents member for Bishop Gorman Catholic High School, Honorary Advisory Board member of the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation, and being on the Board of Trustees for the Nevada School of the Arts since 1997.

George Garlock's role with KGA Architecture centers on mentoring and advising as the firm moves forward and he is now better able to pursue his other interests such as running more than 30 marathons, playing golf, tennis, cycling, and traveling with his family.

Peter Foy

The history of theatrical flight dates back over two millennia, but the art of stage flying took a quantum leap in the second half of the 20th century.

In 1950, Peter Foy, a young Englishman, sailed from London's West End to stage the flying for a Broadway production of Peter Pan, starring Jean Arthur and Boris Karloff. Foy's services and the flying equipment were provided by Kirby's Flying Ballets, a British company hired by the show's producers after they discovered that virtually no theatrical flying had been performed in the United States for more than two decades. Foy returned four years later to fly Mary Martin's Peter Pan when the musical version premiered in New York. Martin's soaring aerial choreography thrilled audiences and marked the beginning of a new era in stage flying, and Foy's subsequent technical innovations soon prompted him to establish his own company "Flying By Foy" in 1957.

Throughout his lifetime, Peter Foy has applied his mechanical ingenuity to the challenge of safely flying performers in a variety of different and often difficult circumstances. His creation of the Multi-Point Balance Harness for the 1965 movie Fantastic Voyage set a standard still used today for flying actors on film; he pioneered the use of self-contained truss systems for touring shows, and also introduced the first self-contained radio-controlled flying system at the "Flower Expo" in Osaka, Japan in 1990.

Over the past half-century, he has single-handedly revolutionized methods and techniques used in stage flying that had remained virtually unchanged for 2,000 years. Perhaps this is one reason the Health and Safety Codes Commission of the United States Institute of Theatre Technology presented to Peter Foy the 1990 International Entertainment Safety Award "for his singular, personal and creative contributions to safeguarding human life during a period of 50 years in the entertainment industry and elevating the task of flying people with rigging to an art form."

"Flying By Foy" has provided theatrical flying effects for thousands of stage productions, musicals, operas, ballets, rock concerts, film and television shows worldwide. The company has flown three Broadway productions of Peter Pan (with Mary Martin in 1954, Sandy Duncan in 1979, and Cathy Rigby in 1990) and originated the flying for Angels in America, Tommy, Aida and The Lion King, among others. Recent Broadway projects include Man of LaMancha and Dracula the Musical. Foy flying effects are also featured in Spamalot, the stage musical adaptation of the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Peter Foy passed away on February 17, 2005 and is survived by his wife of 52 years, Barbara Foy, son Garry, and daughter Teresa.

Edward D. Smith

The College of Fine Arts Dean's Medal, created in 2011, recognizes persons who have made contributions of an extraordinary nature to the College of Fine Arts or one of its units.

This years Dean's Medal is awarded to Edward Smith.

Edward Smith has been affiliated with giving to the College of Fine Arts since 1995. The Smith Family Scholarship supports both Fine Arts and Athletic scholarships. Smith's greatest contribution to the College of Fine Arts was his donation of funds to build the pipe organ now located in the Doc Rando Recital Hall inside the Beam Music Center. The funds to build the pipe organ were donated in memory of his late wife, Maurine Jackson Smith, a UNLV alumna and organ aficionado who, at age 59, graduated magna cum laude with a bachelors degree in history in 1995. The handmade organ has 38 stops, three manuals and 53 sets of pipes, which at that time made it the largest pipe organ in the state. Smith has also committed to provide funds for the lifetime maintenance and repair of the organ.

Smith is active in the Las Vegas community having served on the board of directors of the Boulder Dam Area Council of Boy Scouts, on the advisory board of the Salvation Army, and the Clark County Citizens Committee of Cost Reduction. In 2008, he received the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents' Distinguished Nevadan Award.