– Rounding Out March as Women’s History Month–
An artist and one of the most prominent architects, Maya Lin became famous at the young age of 21. As an undergraduate at Yale University, Lin entered and won a public design competition for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. – beating out more than 1400 competitors.
Born in Athens, Ohio on October 5, 1959, Lin graduated from Yale in 1981 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, and a Master’s degree in architecture in 1986. She was among the youngest at Yale when she received an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts in 1987.
Lin’s work is characterized by simple lines and shapes, natural materials and Asian themes. Her “vision and focus was always on how the space needed to be in the future and what it meant to the 
people.†The Vietnam Wall that she designed is typical of her vision.
With one side pointing to the Lincoln Memorial and the other to the Washington Monument – and forming a V-shape, Lin created “an opening or a wound in the earth to symbolize the gravity of the loss of the soldiersâ€. Opponents criticized the Vietnam Wall for not conforming to the traditional concept of a war memorial.
However, the Vietnam Veterans Wall has become one of the most famous monuments in the United States. In 2007, the American Institute of Architects ranked the memorial #10 on their list of America’s Favorite Architecture. In addition to the Vietnam Veterans Wall, Lin has also designed other notable landscapes and monuments, including Bicentennial Park at Ohio University and “Women’s Table†– a structure that celebrates the role of women at Yale University.
Today, Maya Lin owns a studio in New York City.
