Angela M. Person, PhD

Angela M. Person, PhD (pronounced “Pierce-uhn”), is Professor of Architecture in the University of Arizona’s College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture and Executive Director of Museums & Community Engagement in the university’s Office of Research & Partnerships. Her research and curatorial work bridge architectural history and theory, cultural geography, and public humanities.

Her recent exhibitions include Capital Brutalism at the National Building Museum and Outré West at Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center. These projects brought together archival research, contemporary photography, architectural interpretation, and public programming to reconsider the cultural lives of buildings and design movements. Person is the author or co-editor of several books, including The Care and Keeping of Cultural Facilities, The Routledge International Handbook of Heritage and Affect, and Renegades: Bruce Goff and the American School of Architecture, among others.

Person’s writing has appeared in scholarly and public-facing venues such as Harvard Design Magazine, Museum Magazine, and Architectural Science Review. Her research and teaching have received recognition from the Journal of Architectural Education, the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, the Society of Architectural Historians, and the Oklahoma Book Awards. Person’s collaborative projects have been supported by national organizations including the Smithsonian Institution, Graham Foundation, and National Endowment for the Arts, and have been featured by NPR, The Washington Post, Bloomberg CityLab, Dezeen, and other outlets.

Before joining the University of Arizona, Person served as Associate Dean for Research and External Engagement at the University of Oklahoma’s Gibbs College of Architecture. In that role, she supported faculty research, interdisciplinary initiatives, external partnerships, public scholarship, and institutional visibility.

Across her courses, exhibitions, and collaborative projects, Person works with students to examine how buildings and cultural landscapes become sites of public memory, community identity, environmental concern, and debate over preservation, repair, and reuse. Her teaching and mentoring have been recognized with awards for student research, course development, environmental stewardship, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. The student journal Telesis was recognized three times with the Center for Architecture’s Douglas Haskell Award for Student Journals during her service as faculty advisor.