Laura Ackley holds graduate degrees from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and the University of California at Berkeley College of Environmental design, as well as an undergraduate degree in architecture from Berkeley. Her interest in the Panama Pacific International Exposition was captured by a Cultural Landscapes course during her undergraduate years. She has worked for such diverse firms as Lucasfilm, Bechtel Engineering, and Autodesk, and taught 3D computer modeling for more than a decade.

Her book, San Francisco’s Jewel City: The Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915, co-published by Heyday and the California Historical Society, was awarded a Gold Medal at the 2015 California Book Awards sponsored by the Commonwealth Club.

If your group is interested in hosting Ackley as a speaker, please use the contact form below. More information on her lectures is available on the Lectures and Events page.