Antonio Miró Montilla (born 1937,

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the juri ...

) is a Puerto Rican architect and educator.

Education

He studied architecture at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

, Notre Dame, Indiana, from 1956 until 1961, when he graduated at the top of his class and was awarded the Student Medal of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

. He is listed by the University of Notre Dame among the Notable Alumni. In 1979, Miró Montilla was awarded the Gold Medal of the Colegio de Arquitectos de Puerto Rico.

Career

Antonio Miró Montilla was the first Puerto Rican architect appointed as a director of an agency of the

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporate ...

when he was appointed as Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Public Buildings Authority in 1969. In 1971, Miró Montilla was appointed as first Dean of the School of Architecture of the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...

. The School of Architecture was established in 1966 at the Río Piedras Campus as an autonomous school attached to the office of the Chancellor. In 1971, the School was placed at the faculty level headed by a dean. Under Miró Montilla's leadership, the first major revision of the architecture curriculum was made and the professional degree was changed to Master of Architecture. During his time as Dean the School of Architecture was accredited for the first time by the

National Architectural Accrediting Board The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), established in 1940, is the oldest accrediting agency for architectural education in the United States. The NAAB accredits professional degrees in architecture offered by institutions with U.S. r ...

(NAAB). Miró Montilla served as Dean of Architecture until 1978 when he was appointed Chancellor of the Río Piedras Campus of the University of Puerto Rico. He served as Chancellor for six years and in 1985 returned to teaching at the School of Architecture. At the end of 1997 he retired from the University of Puerto Rico.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miro Montilla, Antonio Puerto Rican architects Living people 1937 births People from San Juan, Puerto Rico University of Puerto Rico faculty University of Notre Dame alumni