Alumni News & Announcements

On September 11, Women in Architecture Society teamed up with NOMA Arizona President Carlos Murrieta to discuss equity, diversity and inclusion in a virtual roundtable event sponsored by the CAPLA Committee on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and the American Institute of Architects Southern Arizona.

Brandon Herman '12 MS Planning '14 MLA is a certified professional planner and licensed landscape architect. He joined CAPLA for a virtual lecture titled "Changing Course: Lessons from a Career Rover," and spoke to& CAPLA students about alternative career paths that they may have not yet considered. 

Despite the challenges presented by job hunting during a global pandemic, Lena Porell '20 MS Urban Planning recently moved across the country to Providence, Rhode Island to start her career as a staff planner.

With her MLA, Kendra Hyson has followed a path to leadership not just in landscape architecture but also in the movement for social equity in built environment design—as both a founder of The Urban Studio and in her current role as a landscape architect and planner for the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission.

Diane Reicher Jacobs ’88 B.Arch left behind a successful trajectory in corporate architecture to start architecture firm Holly Street Studio in 1999. Here, she shares three valuable entrepreneurial lessons she's learned for designers and others striking out on their own.

For Gabby Abou-Zeid, who graduated with her Bachelor's in Sustainable Build Environments in 2019, her path exploring transportation and urban planning has been anything but linear.

David and Lauren Moore have established three endowed scholarships named for Chuck Albanese, who was formerly dean of CAPLA.

Amy Webb was named CAPLA's first Recent Alumna of the Year at this year's homecoming reception. Amy received her Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Built Environments in 2015 and a Master of Landscape Architecture in 2018. Amy is a Landscape Architect at Norris Design based in Tucson and has maintained meaningful ties with the CAPLA Community.

CAPLA honors Scott Pask as the 2019 Alumni of the Year. Scott is a member of the B.Arch Class of 1990, is a Tony-award winning scenic designer and the creative genius behind some of Broadway's most acclaimed productions.

Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Built Environments and Master of Science in Architecture graduate Rachel LaMantia tried a number of programs at the University of Arizona before finding the SBE program, which kick-started her education and launched her career.

"I have a message for current students: while being knowledgeable in your profession is essential to job performance, I can’t stress enough how important building professional relationships with professors, mentors, and—in my case—residents, board members, and developers is toward professional success."

For Amy Webb, the Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Built Environments program had the perfect combination of science and creativity. Early on she had her sights set on earning a Master of Landscape Architecture degree from the University of Arizona and knew that the SBE program would prepare her for that next step in her education.