The AIA has announced nine recipients of the institute's 2010 Young Architects Award. Given to professionals who have been licensed for 10 years or fewer, regardless of age, the award honors those who have demonstrated leadership and made significant contributions to the profession early in their careers. To learn more about each winner, visit the AIA's website.

David Burt
A graduate of Mississippi State University, Burt joined LS3P in Charleston, S.C., early in his career. Honored by AIA Charleston in a Habitat for Humanity design competition, he has served as the chapter's vice president and president. In 2006, Burt was elected to a three-year term as the communications chairperson of the AIA South Carolina Board of Directors. He was named LS3P's youngest principal in 2008.

Kevin deFreitas
DeFreitas, who started his own San Diego firm after graduating cum laude from the University of Arizona, regularly provides pro bono services to church and youth organization and contributed significantly to the revitalization of a previously blighted downtown area. His design and development work has been recognized on a local, state, and national level and has received numerous awards.

David Grissino
Grissino, who received his M.Arch. from the University of Pennsylvania, joined the Boston Society of Architects and became a member of the Urban Design Committee's South Boston Waterfron Task Force while working on the design and permitting for two projects at William Rawn Associates. Now at Goody Clancy, Grissino is a senior urban designer and a leader in the firm's campus planning practice.

Christopher Kelley
Kelley joined Ruyle, Masters, Hayes + Jennewein Architects in Tampa after earning his M.Arch. at the University of Florida. The AIA's first regional associate director from the Florida-Caribbean region, he has also worked on the National Associates Committee and served as the vice-president and president of the Young Architects Forum Advisory Committee. Currently, Kelley works at Gensler as a project architect, assistant studio director, and technical director.

Brian Malarkey
A graduate of Texas A&M, Malarkey began his career at Kirksey before founding the sustainable design consulting group Kirksey EcoServices. In 2003 he was elected as chair of the AIA Houston Committee on the Environment, during which time he organized Gulf Coast Green. Three years later, he became president-elect of AIA Houston. Malarkey has won four individual awards and 23 design awards for buildings on which he served a leadership role.

Gregory Minott
Born and trained as an architect in Jamaica, where he started his career, Minott moved to the U.S. and earned an M.Arch. and a Master of Infrastructure Planning degree at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. As a project architect at Elkus Manfredi Architects, he has made significant contributions to award-winning TOD and urban renewal projects. A committed mentor, Minott conducts design studios for Boston inner-city youth and fosters long-term relationships.

Anthony Piermarini
Piermarini, a founding principal of the award-winning Boston firm Studio Luz Architects, received his B.Arch. from Cornell University and his M.Arch. II at Harvard's Graduate School of Design. A critic at the Rhode Island School of Design, he has also taught at Cornell, Northeastern University, and the Boston Architectural College. Piermarini initiated Studio Luz's participation in Public Architecture's 1% Pro Bono Program.

Kristine Royal
Royal, whose practice focuses on historic preservation and adaptive reuse, has always been an advocate for emerging professionals and young architects. She began working on the Young Architects Forum in 2005, when she was elected to serve as program adviser. In 2007, Royal teamed up with the Regional and Urban Design Committee to bring critical discourse to the Rhode Island design community through the committee's spring roundtable.

Tricia Stuth
A graduate of the University of Milwaukee-Wisconsin, Stuth is an assistant professor of architecture at the University of Tennessee, a co-founder and partner in the firm Curb, and a co-founder and principal in the collaborative group Applied Research. In 2008, she was one of two educators nationwide to be awarded the ACSA/AIA Housing Design Education Award.

The jury: Donald Hackl (chair), Loebl, Schlossman & Hackl; Edward Kodet Jr., Kodet Architectural Group; Norman Koonce; Ronald Skaggs, HKS; Chester Widom, WWCOT Architecture & Interiors.