Dr. Sonia Hirt, Dean of the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, has been elevated to the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) College of Fellows. This prestigious honor recognizes Hirt’s outstanding contributions to both the profession and society. Dr. Hirt will be inducted this April at a special ceremony in New Orleans.
Dr. Hirt touts an established career in academia, serving as Dean of the University of Maryland’s School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation since 2016. Her 17-year teaching and research career also includes leadership and faculty positions at Virginia Tech, Harvard University, the University of Toledo and the University of Michigan. A co-editor of the Journal of Planning History, she is an established voice on a number of planning topics and has written many articles on comparative urban form and governance, particularly how planning and land use regulation play out in the U.S. and Europe. She lectures widely on the topic including at the invitation of Harvard, Columbia and the Yale Law School. Her book, Zoned in the USA: The Origins and Implications of American Land Use Regulation, made Planetizen’s Ten Best Books in Urban Planning, Design and Development in 2016. Most recently, she contributed the article, “Privileging the private home: a case of persuasive storytelling in early twentieth-century professional discourses” to The Journal of Urbanism. Sonia holds an architecture diploma from the University of Architecture and Civil Engineering in Sofia, Bulgaria, and master’s and doctoral degrees in urban planning from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
The distinction of FAICP is one of the most prestigious awarded to a planner and is reserved for individuals who have made significant strides in professional practice, teaching and mentoring, research, public and community service, and leadership. As a fellow, Dr. Hirt will work to contribute to the mentoring and future advancement of the profession through student organizations, conferences and professional development programs.