Architecture student Lani Barry wins a fellowship from the AAUW

Lani Barry, a master’s degree candidate at the Yale School of Architecture, is one of five students from across the Connecticut region to be awarded fellowships or grants from the American Association of University Women (AAUW).

For the 2018-2019 academic year, the AAUW awarded a total of $3.9 million through six fellowship and grant programs to 250 scholars, research projects, and programs promoting education and equity for women and girls. Barry and the other recipients will pursue academic work and lead innovative community projects to empower women and girls.

Barry has been awarded a Selected Profession Fellowship from the AAUW. At the School of Architecture, she studies socially engaged design. While earning her B.A. from the University of Colorado-Denver in political science, she studied access to affordable housing in the Denver area. Last summer, she was one of the project leaders for a Yale School of Architecture student project to design an interactive pavilion for the International Festival of Arts & Ideas that featured exhibits and audio stations telling the stories of people experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless. The students collaborated with the New Haven homeless service provider Columbus House on the project to raise awareness about homelessness and affordable housing. The pavilion was conceived as a companion to the Jim Vlock Building Project, an annual design/build course for first-year graduate students at the Yale School of Architecture, and developed in parallel with the design for a house.

“AAUW fellows and grantees have contributed so much to the world at large,” said Kimberly Churches, the chief executive officer of AAUW. “These trailblazers are breaking the mold in nontraditional fields and refining what leadership and expertise look like. AAUW is proud to support them with the resources necessary to excel in their chosen fields.”

The funding helps women continue their education and research, especially given that the growing burden of student debt disproportionally impacts women. AAUW’s awards alleviate the burden so women can focus on developing the skills and experience they need to excel.

AAUW is one of the world’s leading supporters of graduate women’s education, having awarded more than $115 million in fellowships, grants, and awards to 13,000 women from more than 145 countries since 1888.