Frances Fotini Chamberlain, 73, Professor Emerita of Landscape Architecture, died July 2, 2020, in Boulder, Colorado.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas, Austin, in 1970 and a Master of Landscape Architecture degree from the University of Virginia in 1980. Her career began at a small landscape architecture firm in New York City, then in 1989 she came to South Carolina where she helped launch Clemson University’s Landscape Architecture program.
Chamberlain partnered with the South Carolina Botanical Garden to help host the “Nature-Based Sculpture Program.” She and her students worked with environmental artists from around the world who were invited to the garden to design and build on-site works of ephemeral art from natural materials. Her work with this program beautifully illustrates her special interest in the artistic aspects of her chosen profession of landscape architecture.
“You are an inspiration, and maybe the first professor to show me it was okay not to be profound every time, but that caring and perseverance will bring integrity to the work. We are all thinking of you and sending lots of love,” wrote student Elena Soto Jervis.
“You have given all of your students such an incredible gift. Your legacy lives on in us and in our creative endeavors and way of looking at the world,” added student Naomi Cottrell.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Marion F. Craig. She is survived by a sister, Georgia Chamberlain (John F. Foulkrod; nieces; and her beloved Clemson University Bachelor’s of Landscape Architecture Class of 1995, including Naomi Cottrell, Susan Faris Cannella, Ashley Kyber, Kevin Mason, Rob Moehring, Walt Ray and Stacey Wright Wons.
Her funeral and burial were July 10 in San Antonio, Texas. Memorial contributions may be made to Clemson University at https://iamatiger.clemson.edu/ and by phone at 864-656-5896.Please direct your gift to the Frances Chamberlain Memorial Scholarship Fund.
Her full obituary is posted online.
