The International Interior Design Association (IIDA) is proud to announce the 2021 recipients of the annual Of The Year Awards. This year’s Member of the Year is Marivel Ansera, IIDA, senior interior designer and senior associate at HGA. The Student of the Year, sponsored by OFS, is Jen Khor, Student IIDA, a student at California State University. The Educator of the Year, sponsored by KI, is Olivier Vallerand, Associate IIDA, assistant professor at the Arizona State University.
The IIDA Of The Year Awards recognize IIDA members who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment, passion, professionalism, and dedication to IIDA and to the design community.
“Our 2021 recipients are all inspiring IIDA members with a zeal toward competent leadership, adherent mentorship, dynamic insight, and involvement in steering the design industry to greater heights,” said IIDA Executive Vice President and CEO Cheryl S. Durst, Hon. FIIDA. “We are delighted to be awarding them with these titles and to have them join us at the forefront of our mission.”
The IIDA Educator of the Year Award recognizes and celebrates a full-time design educator for outstanding accomplishments and commitment to interior design education. The award includes a $10,000 cash prize, sponsored by KI, and a complimentary IIDA membership.
Oliver Vallerand, Associate IIDA, holds a Ph.D. in architecture from McGill University and currently works as an assistant professor at the Arizona State University. Prior to this appointment, Vallerand held academic positions at the School of Architecture and the Department of Art History in Université Laval, Québec, QC, and Department of Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley. While he currently keeps an installation-based practice, Vallerand has practiced as a professional architect in various firms across the US and Canada including Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Quebec. His research focuses on self-identifications, community identifications, and their relation to the design and experience of the built environment, on queer and feminist approaches to design education, and on alternative practices of design.
Read the IIDA Press Release
Olivier Vallerand joined SAH in 2010 and was awarded an Opler Membership Grant for Emerging Professionals in 2018. He currently serves on the SAH IDEAS Committee.