Maya Lin attended Yale University, and received a B. Arch. in 1981, and a master’s degree in architecture from Yale’s School of Architecture in 1986. The following year, she opened a studio for art and architecture projects designed for locations throughout the country.

Lin has won international acclaim for her site-specific works of art and architecture. Since her winning design for the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial in Washington, DC, she has pursued not one but two careers, as an artist and an architect. Her architectural projects, such as the Langston Hughes Library and a chapel for the Children’s Defense Fund (Clinton, TN), the Greyston Bakery (Yonkers, NY 2003), the Asia/Pacific/American Studies Department, NYU (New York, NY 1997), and several private residences are among her many architectural projects. Her artwork has been exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the US, and her many awards include the architecture prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters for buildings like the Museum for African Art in New York. She has received the Presidential Design Award, the American Institute of Architects Honor Award, and the Henry Bacon Memorial Award; as well as honorary doctorates in fine arts from Harvard, Yale, and Brown universities, and from Smith and Williams colleges.