Leighton Inducted into William Blackstone Society

Senior Vice President of BETA Group, Inc., Donald Leighton, was inducted into the William Blackstone Society at the annual Blackstone Valley Tourism Council awards dinner on October 6, 2016.

The William Blackstone Society is comprised of people who have spent much of their lives making a difference in the Blackstone Valley.  The Society nominates and chooses each year from a wide list of nominees in the Blackstone Valley. Don was honored for his nearly four decades of involvement in local community development.

“Don is the most artistically talented landscape architect practicing today,” said Wilfred Gates, former long-time business partner of Leighton. “Throughout his career, Don has given generously of his talents to better the Blackstone Valley. He has envisioned and taken to fruition multitudinous Blackstone Valley landscapes and riverscapes extending from East Providence to Worcester.”

Donald Leighton, RLA, ASLA, CLARB has been a transplant from Maine to Rhode Island since arriving at Rhode Island School of Design in 1973. His studies in Landscape Architecture led to a lifelong career, starting in his senior year when he interned at the Woonsocket Planning Department. After graduating from RISD’s 5-year LA program in 1978, he began work as a designer for the RI Department of Environmental Management.

As a Landscape Architect, Leighton started his own company in 1985 with his aforementioned business partner, Wil Gates. Gates, Leighton & Associates (GLA) was known throughout New England for public and commercial projects. Upon Gates’ retirement in 2012, Leighton merged his company with BETA Group, Inc. headquartered in Lincoln, RI, where he has brought design and planning skills to the well-established engineering firm.

In addition to the time spent building his successful business, Leighton has been a mentor to countless students of Landscape Architecture from the University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island School of Design. He has led lectures, offered workshops and held teaching positions, offering his 35-plus years of experience as fuel to inspire the next generation of Landscape Architects. Leighton is currently the Vice President of the Gilbert Stuart Museum Board of Directors, as well as a member of the Narragansett Planning Board, offering his time and insight to these valuable committees.

As Gates concluded in his induction of Leighton to the Society, “There is no clearer choice for an inductee to the William Blackstone Society than Donald Stover Leighton.”