As dean for outreach, Vasquez de Velasco will be responsible for coordinating the college's study abroad, distance learning and continuing education programs.

“The College of Architecture has always been committed to the concept that learning should not be boxed into a single location or period of time,” Vasquez de Velasco said. “We are proud of the many unrestricted learning opportunities that our College can offer to our former, current and future students.”

As dean of outreach, Vasquez de Velasco will focus on four distinct College of Architecture initiatives:

• The enhancement of international programs supporting the college's "semester away" program requiring undergraduate students to spend at least one full semester studying abroad or at another U.S. institution or engaged in a professional internship;
  
  
• Developing international teaching and research opportunities for College of Architecture faculty;
  
  
• Creating distance education programs that provide off-campus college-level instruction, supported by online teaching and video conferencing; and
  
  
• Continuing education programs serving the professions and industries supported by the college.

Vasquez de Velasco has been an innovator in distance learning for the past seven years. Since 1998, from Texas A&M University, he has coordinated the Las Americas Digital Research Network, a collaborative group of top design institutions from 12 countries in the western hemisphere. The network focuses on research and educational activities in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, and construction science.

For the past five years, Vasquez de Velasco has served as coordinator for the Department of Architecture's master of architecture and career change programs, which, under his guidance, have grown substantially while achieving national and international recognition.

A Texas A&M architecture faculty member for the past 10 years, Vasquez de Velasco specializes in computer-aided architectural design, virtual architecture and computer-mediated distance education. He holds a doctorate from Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands, a master of architecture from the University of Toronto, as well as professional and bachelor's degrees from Universidad Ricardo Palma in Peru.