James Murray Howard served as Architect for the historic buildings and grounds at the University of Virginia from 1982 until 2002. He applied his depth of knowledge and devotion to preservation to the restoration of five pavilions and thirty-seven student rooms on the Lawn. His curatorial management of the restoration program garnered an Institute Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects (AIA), as well as a personal AIA Historic Preservation Award, and was named as a fellow of the AIA in 1996. Murray's use of the historic university grounds as a laboratory for preservation theory and technique "made these grounds and buildings better, more honest places to walk and live," said University President John T. Casteen III.
