Over the weekend, I learned of the sudden and untimely passing of Jeff Featherstone. To say that I am still shocked is an understatement. Jeff was the first chair of our department, and was the person who first hired me as an adjunct at Temple. I am proud to call him both colleague and friend. His leadership, knowledge, and infectious laugh will be missed.
When I was hired full-time back in 2012, it was Jeff who helped me teach my first studio course, resulting in the award-winning Aging with our Communities master plan for Montgomery County, PA. He showed me how to nudge graduate students, who were just on the verge of entering professional practice, in a direct but kind way, towards excellence. And so as I’ve pulled together the work from this year’s course, I’ve been thinking about him, and the example he gave all of us.
May his memory be for a blessing.