Perkins&Will has announced the recent addition of AIA President-elect Emily Grandstaff-Rice to their Boston studio in order to help further its EDI, decarbonization, and research pursuits across the industry.

The organization’s soon-to-be 99th President comes to the position with a breadth of K-12 and higher-education experience around Massachusetts, including recent projects for the UMass Lowell and Boston Children’s Museum.

Grandstaff-Rice pointed to the firm’s “unparalleled” focus on climate action and social equity causes as the principal factors that led her decision, adding: “I envision this next stage of my career as one in which I collaborate with interdisciplinary teams in support of creating safer, healthier, and more responsive architecture.”

“Emily’s experience in the education market will beautifully complement our Boston studio’s K-12 and higher-ed practices, and I’m sure our clients will love her contributions,” managing director Yanel de Angel said of her new colleague. “Additionally, her forthcoming national role as AIA president — combined with her 2014 role as president of the Boston Society of Architects — has cemented her role as a highly influential voice in the industry. We’re delighted she’s chosen Perkins&Will as her new professional home.”

“Emily’s passion, voice, and rigor have found the perfect home at Perkins&Will, where we are committed to diversifying the design profession and making progress on our goals every day,” Gabrielle Bullock, Perkins&Will’s director of global diversity, added finally of Grandstaff-Rice’s track record in past positions. “Her amplification of our J.E.D.I. values will no doubt reassure our clients, attract diverse talent, and help us stay competitive.”