María A. Villalobos H.

Villalobos is the founder of Botanical City, and associate professor and director of the Master in Landscape Architecture and Urbanism at Illinois Institute of Technology. She holds a Master's in design studies from Harvard GSD and a Ph.D. in landscape architecture from the ENSP-Versailles. In 2017, she made history as the first woman to receive the first prize in the Venezuelan Architecture Biennale. Villalobos is an active member of the Lincoln Yards Advisory Council and the Committee on Design for the Department of City Planning in Chicago, a board member of Friends of the Park in Chicago, and a core member of Dark Matter U. Her expertise and dedication have been recognized with the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture's 2022 Excellence in Design Studio Teaching Award.