Hazel Ruth Edwards (MAUD ’89), FAICP, received the 2025 Distinguished Legacy Award from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Fine & Applied Arts.
The Distinguished Legacy Award recognizes those who have attained outstanding success and national or international distinction in their chosen profession. A celebrated educator and planner, Edwards has dedicated her career to “improving livability for all citizens and increasing diverse voices in the design and planning fields.”
Edwards was the first woman to become a Full Professor and Chair of the Department of Architecture at Howard University College of Engineering and Architecture since the program’s founding in 1911. Her other honors include the 2022 Women in Architecture Design Leadership Educator Award from Architectural Record, the 2024 Richard T. Ely Distinguished Educator Award from Lambda Alpha International, and her 2021 appointment to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts by President Joseph R. Biden.
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