Honoring Professor Vincent Scully, 2004 Recipient of the National Medal of Arts

HONORING PROFESSOR VINCENT SCULLY, 2004 RECIPIENT OF THE NATIONAL MEDAL OF ARTS-HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO (Extensions of Remarks - November 18, 2004)

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I rise today to join the National Endowment of the Arts in congratulating Professor Vincent Scully as he receives a 2004 National Medal of Arts. One of our Nation's foremost architectural historians, Professor Scully has not only developed a renowned reputation as a historian, but as an educator and mentor as well.

Over the last two decades, the National Medal of Arts has been awarded in recognition of the extraordinary accomplishments of those engaged in the creation and production of the arts in the United States. Both as an educator and author, Professor Scully has deeply influenced the world of architecture by highlighting its social value. Defining architecture as a "continuing dialogue between generations that creates an environment across time," Professor Scully has taught thousands of architects, planners, art historians, and politicians that architecture is not simply the design of a building, but how that design adds to the character of a community or environment.

Professor Scully's illustrious career began when he enrolled at Yale University at the age of sixteen. After completing his undergraduate studies, he accepted a position with the University and, through his unique teaching style, became one of its most popular professors. His standing room only lectures could boast five hundred students-filling the largest lecture hall on campus. In speaking of his former professor, the New Yorker's Paul Goldberger said, "His thinking has always been based on the notion that architecture is not purely aesthetics, and that the real meaning is how it can be used to make better places." It has been through this vision that Professor Scully has had the greatest influence on the arts-passing it on to generations of scholars and students.

For his invaluable contributions to the arts and in recognition of his lifetime of achievement, I am proud to stand today and extend my sincere congratulations to Professor Vincent Scully as he is awarded the National Medal of Arts. His is a legacy which will continue to inspire others for generations to come.