At a ceremony held in mid-December, Elizabeth Chu Richter was inaugurated as the 91st president of the AIA. Richter was born in Nanjing, China, grew up in Hong Kong and Dallas, and holds a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Texas.

In 2007, she served as the president of the Texas Society of Architects and more recently represented Texas on the AIA’s National Board of Directors. Richter also heads the Corpus Christi-based architecture firm Richter Architects which won the 2011 Texas Society of Architects Firm Award.

“As architects, we use our creativity to serve society—to make our communities better places to live,” Richter said at the event. “Through our profession and our life’s work, each of us has shaped and reshaped the ever-changing narrative that is America in both humble and spectacular ways.”