Architecture Professor of Practice Teresa Rosano Wins Inaugural Anne Graham Rockfellow Memorial Award

Teresa Rosano, assistant professor of practice in architecture in the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture, has been named the inaugural Anne Graham Rockfellow Memorial Award winner by the University of Arizona chapter of Women in Architecture Society.

“I am so honored and delighted to receive this award!” says Rosano. “This is extraordinarily meaningful to me, as I am among many dedicated and talented faculty and staff helping women advance in our profession.”

The WIAS award recognizes faculty and staff at CAPLA for their contributions toward women students in their pursuit of higher education. Eligibility for the award is not determined by gender, sexual orientation, ethnic background, religious affiliations, or “any other discriminatory factor,” says WIAS president Anisa Hermosillo. The WIAS’s core goal is to “empower women and provide advice and guidance as they go through school and into the profession.”

Rosano was selected after being nominated by the WIAS executive board and elected by the WIAS general membership.

“I am grateful to earn this acknowledgement from my students and to realize my effort has a positive impact on their lives,” says Rosano. “That is immeasurably encouraging and heartwarming.”

The award is named in honor of Anne Graham Rockfellow, a professor at the University of Arizona from 1897 to 1900 and chief architectural designer for H.O. Jaastad Architects from 1916 to 1938. Rockfellow, who received a certificate in architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1866, played an integral part in the development of Tucson through her architecture and contributions to many clubs, such as the YWCA, where she served as board member.

In Tucson, she designed the El Conquistador Hotel, Safford School, Southern Arizona Bank and Trust Co. Building, First Church of Christ Scientist, the YMCA Building and many residences in Tucson and the surrounding area.

“Tucson and the University of Arizona were shaped through Rockfellow’s contributions and she paved the way for other women pursuing architecture as an academic degree and profession,” says Hermosillo.

Rosano, who is a 1994 graduate of the University of Arizona’s Bachelor of Architecture program, joined CAPLA as a lecturer in 2011. With Luis Ibarra, she founded Ibarra Rosano Design Architects in 1999 after winning their first international design award. At CAPLA, she teaches site analysis and planning, architectural programming and design studios. This spring, Rosano completed UArizona’s Inclusive Leadership Cohort Certificate, which leverages university resources, mentorship and coaching to bolster critical leadership competencies and best practices—particularly those related to advancing equity, diversity and inclusion—as UArizona builds its next generation of leaders.