2024-2025 PAYETTE Sho-Ping Chin Memorial Academic Scholarship Recipient

We are pleased to announce the 2024-2025 recipient of the PAYETTE Sho-Ping Chin Memorial Academic Scholarship, Dagny Elise Carlsson.

This award honors late architect Sho-Ping Chin, FAIA, a long-time principal at PAYETTE and a healthcare practice leader who was instrumental in defining and elevating the national discourse for women in design. As part of the prize, Dagny Elise will receive a $10,000 scholarship and will be mentored by an architect at PAYETTE for the scholarship year.

Dagny Elise is a rising second-year master’s candidate at the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design, pursuing degrees in Architecture and Landscape Architecture. She holds an undergraduate degree in Architectural Design from Stanford University.

As a proud citizen of the Shawnee Tribe and the Cherokee Nation, Dagny Elise is inspired by generations of tradition and believes that the future of sustainability and resiliency involves integrating Indigenous knowledge into contemporary architecture. After graduating, she will dedicate her career to serving Native American communities across the United States and Canada, designing healthcare facilities, housing and community centers for tribal groups. By designing resilient, culturally grounded and beautiful places, she hopes to serve the next seven generations.

Dagny Elise is a Design Fellow with Penn Praxis where she is working on a proposal for a new community for the Ramapough Lenape Turtle Clan.

“Dagny Elise’s work truly embodies the values and aspirations of the Sho-Ping Chin Memorial Academic Scholarship. Her portfolio of work is powerful in the sense that it is very personal and evokes her roots and background through design.”

Lucia Valentin, Committee Member