Landscape architect Lisa E. Delplace, FASLA has been announced by President Biden as the latest member of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts.

A graduate of the University of Michigan, Delplace is the CEO and Principal of D.C.-based landscape architecture practice Oehme, van Sweden (OvS), where she is in charge of overseeing the firm’s institutional, commercial, and residential projects.

Delplace steps into a proud tradition of landscape architects serving on the prestigious body, beginning with the appointment of ASLA founder Frederick Law Olmstead, Jr., who served on the commission from 1910 to 1918.

ASLA President Eugenia Martin spoke highly of the new appointee, saying: “We are incredibly pleased with Lisa’s appointment to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, where she will provide advice to executive departments of the Federal Government on how to best preserve and enhance the visual and cultural character of the District of Columbia. The Commission and our nation will benefit tremendously from Lisa’s broad expertise across multiple scales of landscape architecture and her experience with federal projects.”

The organization has been lobbying the Biden administration to include a member of the landscape profession on the commission since at least last year. Delplace will serve a four-year term and joins Duncan Stroik, James C. McCrery, Peter Cook, Hazel Ruth Edwards, Billie Tsien, Rodney Mims Cook, Jr, and Justin Garrett Moore, who were each appointed between December 2019 and June 2021, respectively.