Where you are from is as important as where you are. It is easy to forget that you are somewhere and not anywhere,… someone not anyone. It seems to me that David Wilson former Vice President for Outreach at Auburn, and the School of Architectures Distinguished Service Award honoree for 2005 has helped us all realize the importance of this. He knows where he is from and knows where he is and furthermore he helps us understand where we are and hence a little bit more about who we are.

On a number of occasions I have suggested that the definition of the word urban was not a city but that moment when we realized that we could do things together that we cannot do alone. For eleven years David Wilson has dedicated his passion and inspiration towards this at Auburn University – work, that exemplifies that there are things we can do together that we cannot do alone. While this may seem simple it is not obvious, especially for institutions such as universities. David Wilson has changed this at Auburn and has provided leadership nationally to help open up the university so that the faculty and students can participate in where they are and also learn from where they are. I have no doubt that when David and his family go to Wisconsin where he will assume the Chancilors position of the University of Wisconsin he will know where he is from and we will all take great solace in knowing that he is from here.