SWARTHMORE

MATT WARGOwould be the right place to go to make up my mind aboutbeing an architect.”He was an indifferent student, at best, spending “entirelytoo much time exploring the aesthetics of Frisbee” and takingpictures for the student newspaper and yearbook—untilhe took a course with Hedley Rhys, Swarthmore’s architecturalhistorian. “He kind of adopted me, sat me down, and“I wouldnʼt mind it if everybody lovedwhat we did,” Izenour says. “But, ifyou really hate something, you havethe potential to learn from it.”TOM BERNARDABOVE: IZENOUR HELPED DEVELOP ANEW LIGHTING SCHEME FOR THEBENJAMIN FRANKLIN BRIDGE,WHICH LINKS PHILADELPHIA WITHCAMDEN, N.J. INNOVATIVETECHNOLOGY ALLOWS THE LIGHTSTO BE SWITCHED ON AND OFFRAPIDLY—A SHIMMERING EFFECTTRIGGERED BY THE FREQUENT PAS-SAGE OF COMMUTER TRAINS ACROSSTHE DELAWARE RIVER.LEFT: IZENOUR DESIGNED THISCONNECTICUT SHORE HOME FOR HISPARENTS IN THE EARLY 1980S.asked, ‘What can we do to keep you in school?’”Izenour took every course taught by Rhys. “I couldn’t getenough of him. It got to the point that I would look for excusesto sit in on his classes, even after I’d taken them. It was acase of fanatical discipleship. I’d carry his notes, run hisslides—anything.”While helping Rhys with his slides, Izenour met his futurewife, Elisabeth Gemmill ’63. Two of their three children,Tessa ’90, a painter who is now Swarthmore’s graphics andphoto curator, and John ’95, who runs VSBA’s computers,also went to Swarthmore. VSBA also currently employs LaurenJacobi ’98 and has welcomed numerous Swarthmore studentsas interns over the years.As a student, Izenour also became a fan of courses taughtby Bob Walker, professor of art history. “Walker was anamazing architecture groupie, a really sweet guy. He had theonly modernist house in Swarthmore, and he had a fabulousS E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 027