The Illinois Institute of Technology has appointed Maria A. Villalobos Hernandez as director of its Master of Landscape Architecture and Urbanism program. “Villalobos is the first woman of color and first Latinx person to be a director of a College of Architecture program, and she will bring a deep-rooted sense of equity and justice to the program,” the institute said announcing the news.

Originally hailing from Venezuela, Villalobos Hernandez has “witnessed first-hand the impacts of the oil industry on local communities,” bringing her to cultivate “an approach to landscape architecture that prioritizes environmental and social justice.” Having exercised this ethos through her practice, Botanical City, Villalobos Hernandez now hopes to infuse the MLA+U program with the same spirit.

“The weight of this appointment holds resonance beyond personal achievement, as it is a great responsibility to be the inaugural Latin American Director of a program in the College,” said Villalobos Hernandez upon her appointment. “Representation matters.”

News of the appointment comes weeks after Prasad Boradkar was named as the new dean of the University of Minnesota’s College of Design. Other notable appointments within U.S. design schools of late include Walter Wood’s appointment to lead UC Berkeley’s landscape department, Chingwen Cheng being named the new director of Penn State’s Stuckeman School, and Julia Czerniak being chosen as the next dean of the University of Buffalo’s School of Architecture and Planning.