Congratulations to Viridiana Hernandez Sevilla, who, for the second year in a row, has received the Robert L. Wesley Award!
The Robert L. Wesley Award was created in 2020 by the S.O.M Foundation to support BIPOC undergraduate students enrolled in architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, or structural engineering programs across the US. The award, named in honor of OU alumnus and former S.O.M. principal Robert L. Wesley, aims to support the academic development of the student recipients.
Born and raised in Cuernavaca Morelos, Mexico, Viridiana moved to the United States at the age of nine. She would then attend Norman North High School and complete a two-year program at Moore Norman Technology Center for CADD, where she earned honors from the National Technical Honor Society.
"The In-Between" by Viridiana Hernandez Sevilla.
She is currently a second-year Architecture student at the University of Oklahoma, while also pursuing a minor in entrepreneurship. Her goal is, “to graduate from the University of Oklahoma representing my Mexican heritage.” She lists her mother, the drive to help others, and the ability to become an example of overcoming adversity as her biggest motivators.
She hopes to become the first in her family to obtain a college degree and to one day own her own design-build firm. Because she has not been able to visit her home country, she dreams of working internationally and becoming an advocate for people who come from a similar background, “showing that it is possible to achieve anything if you really push for it.”
Ted Reeds, Adjunct Professor of Architecture at Gibbs, says, “Viridiana is a truly remarkable young lady. While enduring a pandemic, holding down a job, attending my four-hour class—either on Zoom or in person with 100 percent class attendance—and always maintaining a smile, she turned out remarkable work. Her projects were complete, well-crafted, and thoughtful.”
The Gibbs College of Architecture is incredibly proud of Viridiana’s achievements and knows she will continue to do amazing work!
Read more about Viridiana’s work and the 2021 Robert L. Wesley Award.
The University of Oklahoma College of Architecture is proud to announce that Model Schools in the Model City, authored by Director of the Institute for Quality Communities, Amber N. Wiley, Ph.D., has been named one of ten finalists for the 2026 ASALH Book Prize for Best New Book in African American History and Culture.
This semester, students in the LA 5535 Studio: Ecological Planning and Design, led by Prof. Afsana Sharmin, took on an ambitious hypothetical project to redesign key parts of the OU campus. Their mission: to tackle the critical real-world challenge of stormwater management through innovative green design.
Petya Stefanoff, Chair of the Educational Committee with the American Planning Association, Oklahoma Chapter (APA-OK) and Gibbs College PhD candidate, has developed a new training program for local government officials. The program, focused on land use, zoning principles, and land development, recently certified its first graduates with Certified Citizen Planner status.
