Professor Milagros Zingoni joined the University of Tennessee as the Director of the School of Interior Architecture in January of 2021. Before this, she was an Associate Professor (with tenure) at Arizona State University where she started her academic career in 2007. During this tenure, she taught for nine years in Architecture and Urban Design, before joining the Interior Design Program in where she created and developed the Master in Interior Architecture. Zingoni is originally from Argentina, where she is a registered architect, and has additional degrees in Habitat Design and Urban and Environmental Planning. Milagros’s experience as a designer, planner and educator allow her to move easily across scales: from the city to the scale of the body. Her research explores interiority as ephemeral and spatial experiences inside and outside, leveraging design education to develop agency in underrepresented communities and developing pedagogical approaches that can enable design students to develop soft skills with special emphasis in empathy and collaboration, expanding design-build studios in interior architecture and cross disciplinary design thinking. Her studios focus on community and commitment to public engagement through participatory design-build collaboration that address notions of interiority. Zingoni leverages the resources of Public Research 1 Land Grand universities for the public good addressing new ways of learning, emphasizing problem solving skills and collaboration that creates communities of learning. Zingoni was recognized by the Interior Design Educator’s Council (IDEC) with the National Teaching Excellence Award (2019), by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Arizona Chapter with the Educator of the Year Award (2019), by DesignIntelligence rankings as one of the top twelve most admired educators in the country (2019), by Arizona State University with the Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award (2020), the Phil Freelon Award given by the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA)(2022), International Interior Design Association (IIDA) Diversity Educator Award (2022), the American Society of Interior Design (ASID) Educator Award (TN Chapter)(2023), and the Diversity Achievement Award by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) (2023). Zingoni is a strong advocate for community causes, serving on multiple non-profit and civic boards.

Bachelor of Science in Interior Design, Oklahoma State University
Master of Science in Design Housing and Merchandising, Oklahoma State University
Doctor of Philosophy in Design in Environment and the Arts, Arizona State University