Distinguished Achievement Award Geoffrey H. Edmunds
ASU honors well known Valley homebuilder for support of business education Geoffrey H. Edmunds receives Distinguished Achievement Award
Geoffrey Edmunds, whose luxury residential communities and custom homes helped shape Scottsdale and Paradise Valley, will be honored by the W. P. Carey School of Business with the Distinguished Achievement Award at the graduation convocation on Thursday, December 13 at 7 p.m. in the Wells Fargo Arena at the Tempe Main Campus.
The Distinguished Achievement Award is presented to leaders who have attained distinction in a profession or field and also have made significant contributions to the development of the School of Business.
"Geoffrey Edmunds is an extraordinarily successful alumnus of ASU," said Larry Penley, Dean of the W. P. Carey School of Business. "He not only has great vision - he has the leadership skills to realize that vision, which is a very special combination."
Edmunds, an Arizona resident for more than 40 years who earned a degree in Accounting from ASU in 1963, has designed and built luxury homes in some of the most prestigious communities in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley. His support of teaching and scholarship has helped ASU and the School of Business reach higher levels of excellence.
"This is a tremendous honor and I'm privileged to receive the Distinguished Achievement Award from my alma mater," said Edmunds, who created the first endowed chair in the School of Accountancy and Information Management at ASU and also established the Jane and Geoffrey Edmunds Endowment Scholarship.
Edmunds learned the construction business while still a student at ASU and started his own company in 1971. Geoffrey H. Edmunds and Associates, Inc., a family-owned business, earned a reputation for distinctive architectural style and design, craftsmanship and construction, building in premier locations within the most prestigious communities in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley.
Geoffrey H. Edmunds & Associates, Inc. established trends for the industry with residential developments such as Cheney Estates and Stonegate, and with homes in the master-planned communities of The Boulders, Desert Highlands, Troon and Gainey Ranch.
In Arizona, the company built more than 2,500 custom homes, as well as office buildings, warehouses, retail stores, apartments units and a 150-unit hotel. In addition, Geoffrey H. Edmunds & Associates, Inc. built the resort community of Cascade Village near the Purgatory Ski Resort in Durango, Colorado.
In August 1995, Geoffrey H. Edmunds & Associates, Inc. was purchased by the luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers, Inc., and for three transition years Edmunds stayed on in management. Edmunds briefly retired, coming out of retirement to form his current company, GHE & Associates, which continues to build custom homes. He managed the development and marketing of a luxury condominium project in La Jolla, California, and developed the FBI Maintenance Facility in Phoenix, which was completed and occupied in late 2000.
Currently Edmunds is developing Esplanade Place, a 56-unit luxury high-rise condominium project at 24th Street and Camelback. Like many of his other projects, Esplanade Place is breaking new ground in luxury urban living. Edmunds has called this project "the top of the pillar" for his career.
Edmunds has been on the Board of Directors of the Homebuilders Association of Central Arizona since 1986, serving as its president in 1992 and named a life director in 1996. Since 1992 Edmunds has represented Arizona as the state's director to the National Association of Homebuilders, and has served as the Build Pac trustee for Arizona since 2000.
Edmunds and his companies have received many honors, including the Central Arizona Homebuilders' Association's "MAME" Grand Award, which was awarded to the firm on two occasions.
In recent years Edmunds has deepened his ties with ASU and the School of Business, becoming a member of the President's Club, the ASU Campaign for Leadership Cabinet and the Sun Angel Foundation. He has also served on the board of directors of the Economic Club of Phoenix and as Honorary Chairman of the Dean's Council of 100. In 1995 he received the Arizona Business Leadership Award from the W. P. Carey School of Business Alumni Chapter.
"The School of Business at ASU has been an important part of my life since my days as an undergrad," Edmunds said. "They've made tremendous progress since then and I'm proud to be recognized by this forward-thinking institution."
The School of Business salutes this distinguished graduate.
