Codman Award for Lifetime Achievement: Margaret Ings

A visionary leader, Margaret “Peggy” Ings spent over four decades revitalizing Boston’s Theater District. An alumna of Emerson and Lesley College, she founded the Charlestown Working Theater in 1975 and later served as Coordinator of the Midtown Cultural/Theater District at the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

As a longtime leader and public face of Emerson College, Ings helped guide the once-in-a-generation transition of Emerson’s campus from the Back Bay to the Theater District. Along the way, she championed the preservation and adaptive reuse of historic buildings while navigating complex regulatory, community, and preservation review processes. Projects of note include the restoration of the Paramount Center and two Boston Preservation Alliance Preservation Achievement Award winners: the Cutler Majestic Theatre and the Little Building. In 2025, Ings received a Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Emerson College.

The remarkable scale of Ings’ accomplishments, including the relocation of a college campus and the preservation, renovation, and repurposing of numerous significant historic buildings, is an extraordinary contribution to Boston.