PHILADELPHIA Prof. John Dixon Hunt, professor of landscape architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, has been named a member of the prestigious Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier Des Artes et Lettres) by the Cultural Ministry of France for his exceptional endeavors in landscape architecture.

Most recently, Prof. Hunt was the chair of the department of landscape architecture and regional planning in the Graduate School of Fine Arts at Penn. He is on sabbatical this year to pursue his interests in landscape architectural theory. Last year Prof. Hunt theoretic study of landscape architecture, Greater Perfections, The Practice of Garden Theory, was published.

Educated at King's College, Cambridge, and Bristol University, Prof. Hunt taught English literature, with emphasis on its relationships with the visual arts, at universities in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the United States. He is the former director of studies in landscape architecture at Dumbarton Oaks at Harvard. He is the author of numerous publications on garden history and theory, including a catalogue of the landscape drawings of William Kent, Garden and Grove and Gardens and the Picturesque.

The Order of Arts and Letters, established in 1957, recognizes prominent artists, writers and others for their significant contributions to advancing the arts in France and throughout the world. Previous winners include David Bowie, Marilyn Horne, Richard Meier, Robert Paxton, Robert Redford and Meryl Streep.