Architecture and Design Foundation Selects 2023-2024 Scholarship and Fellowship Recipients

The Architecture and Design Foundation is excited to announce the recipients of its scholarships and fellowships for the 2023 – 2024 academic year. The Foundation awards a variety of scholarships and fellowships to support the next generation of architects by providing tuition support, travel funds, and research funds for high school students, college students, and emerging and underrepresented professionals. In 2023, the Foundation received a record number of applications for the 17 award funds available – 107 applications from 43 applicants.

“This year’s record number of applications to the Architecture and Design Foundation Scholarship Program is a clear indication of widespread interest in careers in architecture and design related fields, and the impact that AD EX is having across the region,'” said Peter Goldstein, AIA, chair of the Foundation’s Scholarship Committee. “These scholarships are helping transform the lives of students and young professionals and allowing them to achieve their career aspirations and goals- and at the same time, they are having a profound impact on the profession and future generations of design professionals.”

Through a growing partnership with Dallas ISD’s CityLab High School and the CityLab HS Foundation, the Architecture and Design Foundation awards two scholarships to graduating CityLab High School students who will be pursuing a degree in architecture or urban design fields. CityLab’s unique approach to secondary education introduces students to architecture, urban planning, and environmental sustainability by using downtown Dallas as their extended classroom.
Many scholarships support equity and diversity in the architecture profession, including the AIA Dallas Latinos in Architecture Scholarship, the Diversity in Architecture Scholarship, the DSGN Scholarship Towards an Equitable Architecture, and the HKS Equitable Design Scholarship. Each of these scholarships support students from underrepresented populations graduating from North Texas high schools that have been accepted to collegiate architecture programs.

The Pat Yates Skillman Scholarship and the OMNIPLAN / Hamilton & Harrell Scholarship continue the legacy of impactful local architects and firms. The AIA Dallas Emerging Professionals and Women in Architecture networks each support a young architect poised to make an impact on the profession through licensure support or leadership training. A new scholarship funded by AIA Northeast Texas will award its first recipient in 2023, supporting a Northeast Texas student pursuing a degree in architecture.

Finally, fellowships are awarded each year for recent graduates and early career professionals to research, develop, and disseminate knowledge of the built environment both locally and abroad. Each fellow returns to the AD EX to present their findings by public lecture as a part of the Foundation’s monthly AD EXchange series.

The 2023 – 2024 scholarship and fellowship recipients are:

• Jennifer Aguirre Garcia, of the University of Texas at Arlington received the AIA Northeast Texas Architecture and Design Scholarship
• Daisy Ramirez, of CityLab High School, Dallas, TX, attending Texas A&M University, College Station, TX in the Fall, received the CityLab High School Scholarship
• Stephanie Jimenez, of CityLab High School, Dallas, TX, attending University of Texas at Arlington in the Fall, received the Peter Goldstein Founder’s Scholarship
• Christopher Mejia Olalde, of the University of Texas at Arlington, received the Diversity in Architecture Scholarship
• Jacqueline Hernandez, of the University of Texas at Arlington received the DSGN Scholarship Towards an Equitable Architecture
• Cynthiamari Alondra Mendoza, of CityLab High School, Dallas, TX, attending University of Colorado, Denver in the Fall, received the HKS Equitable Design Scholarship
• Mia Orozco, of Skyline High School, Dallas, TX, received the Latinos in Architecture Scholarship
• Victor Alamaraz, of the University of Texas at Arlington received the OMNIPLAN / Harrell & Hamilton Scholarship
• Karina Mendez, of the University of Texas at Arlington, received the OMNIPLAN / Harrell & Hamilton Scholarship
• Miriam Gallegos Chavez, of Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, received the Pat Yates Skillman Scholarship
• Christopher Zhu, Assoc. AIA, designer at Stantec, Plano, TX, received the Emerging Professionals Path to Licensure Scholarship
• Audrey Maxwell, AIA, principal at Malone Maxwell Dennehy Architects, Dallas, TX, received the Women in Architecture Professional Development Fund
• Gabriella Bermea, AIA, associate at VLK Architects, Austin, TX, received the Women in Architecture Professional Development Fund
• Alexandra Morales, Assoc. AIA, project designer at Malone Maxwell Dennehy Architects, Dallas, TX, will be exploring geometry and materiality of contemporary architecture in Portugal as a recipient of the McDermott Traveling Fellowship
• Ariana Schall, associate project manager at Streetlights Residential, Dallas, TX, will be exploring wellbeing in Nordic architecture as the recipient of the Mary Kolb Berglund Traveling Fellowship
• Karina Mendez, of the University of Texas at Arlington and architectural intern at Stantec, Plano, TX, will be exploring craft in the architecture of Portugal as a recipient of the Swank Traveling Fellowship
• Rachael Herring, of Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, received the Bill Millsap Fellowship: The Art of Landscape Architecture

A brunch at the AD EX will celebrate the recipients of $38,500 in scholarships and fellowships on May 6, 2023. The Architecture and Design Foundation is proud to support these individuals. Applications for the 2024-2025 Architecture and Design Foundation scholarships and fellowships will open in October 2023.