Elo John Urbanovsky (1907-1988) was awarded the local level Pugsley Medal for “leadership and dedication to the principles of professional growth and preparation for public service, and for outstanding contributions to the planning and development of parks from the local to the national level.” This citation recognized his dual contributions as a practicing planner and landscape architect who was involved in the development of numerous environmental projects, and as a leading educator of students preparing for a professional career in the landscape architecture, planning, and parks fields.
In 1935 and in 1936, he was regional landscape architect for the United States Department of Agriculture based in their Dallas office, before assuming the role of director of landscape maintenance with the San Antonio Public Schools and San Antonio Parks Department.
He returned to Texas A&M in 1940 to serve as assistant professor in the Department of Landscape and Architecture. His stay in this position was curtailed in 1944 by a tour of duty with the United States Navy. At the conclusion of World War II, he served from 1945 to 1949 as regional landscape architect for the Veterans' Administration Hospitals in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
Urbanovsky accepted the position of head of the Department of Horticulture and Park Management at Texas Technological College (later Texas Tech University) in 1949. By the time he retired a quarter-century later, his position had evolved to include the Department of Park Administration, Landscape Architecture and Horticulture. During his tenure, the department gained a national reputation for its research studies and the performance of its more than 600 graduates.