Channing Swanson, a principal with Neumann Monson Architects, has been awarded the AIA Iowa Medal of Honor, the Iowa Chapter of the American Institute of Architects announced.

The Medal of Honor is the highest honor an individual can receive from the AIA Iowa chapter.

Swanson is a native of Muscatine and a graduate of Iowa State University. He is the principal architect of the Des Moines Federal Courthouse and the high-rise proposed on the northwest corner of Walnut Street and Fifth Avenue in downtown Des Moines.

Before joining Neumann Monson Architects’ Des Moines office in 2011, Swanson worked at Shiffler Associates in Des Moines and later at Herbert Lewis Kruse Blunck. He has been editor of the Iowa Architect Magazine and has chaired an AIA Iowa annual convention.

Swanson was named a principal and member of the board of directors at Neumann Monson in 2013.

Under Swanson’s leadership, Neumann Monson Architects achieved its first national AIA design award, according to a news release. In 2019, St. Luke the Evangelist Catholic Church was honored with a Faith & Form/Interfaith AIA Knowledge Community Award. In 2021, Market One was honored with an AIA COTE Top Ten Award – the industry’s highest recognition for sustainable design. The accomplishment paved the way for the firm’s second COTE award in 2022.