Dr. Jorge A. Vanegas graduated in 1979 with a degree in Architecture from the Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia, South America, and is a registered Architect in Colombia (inactive). He pursued graduate studies in Construction Engineering and Management (CEM) of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering(CEE) at Stanford University, Stanford, California, graduating with a M.S. degree in 1985, and a Ph.D. degree in 1988.

Since Sept.'20, Dr. Jorge A. Vanegas serves as Director of the Institute for Sustainable Communities at Texas A&M University (TAMU). He joined Texas A&M in Jan.'06 as a tenured Professor in the Department of Architecture in the former College of Architecture (now School of Architecture) and has courtesy appointments as Professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering in the College of Engineering since Feb.'20, and as Research Professor in the Texas Engineering Experiment Station of the Texas A&M University System since Sept.'11. In addition, he served as Associate Vice President, Department of Engagement for Sustainability in the Division of Academic and Strategic Collaborations of the Office of the President (Jan.'22 to Oct.'22). Prior to joining TAMU, he held appointments as Associate Professor and Professor in Civil & Environmental Engineering at Georgia Tech (May'93–Dec.'05), and as Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering at Purdue University (Aug.'88–May'93).

Since 1984, Dr. Vanegas' primary areas of scholarly and professional activities in research & creative work, learning & teaching, and engagement in outreach, service & practice have been, among others: (1) sustainability of the built environment – urban, infrastructure, facilities & housing, with an emphasis on livable, resilient, sustainable & smart communities; (2) problem solvingfueled by curiosity& imaginationand based oncreative, innovative&design thinking, pulled by a spirit of entrepreneurship, and infused with digital, systems & critical thinking with an emphasis on innovation & entrepreneurship for social change; (3) advanced strategies, technologies, methods & tools for integrated capital asset delivery and management in the Architecture, Engineering & Construction (AEC) industry, with an emphasis on innovative, best & value improvement practices for capital projects; (4) design/construction integration in the development and rehabilitation of facilities & civil infrastructure systems; (5) constructability programs and advanced use of prefabrication, pre-assembly, modularization & off-site construction; (6) undergraduate & graduate curricula development; and (7) professional & continuing education program development.

Dr. Vanegas has documented and disseminated the results and findings from his scholarly activities in over 52 peer-reviewed publications in technical refereed journals, technical conference proceedings, industry reports, and book chapters; 99 non-refereed publications in conference proceedings, technical reports, and magazine articles; 75 invited keynote addresses, plenary lectures, and special lectures; 186 invited lectures, speeches, and panel presentations at various academic and industry events and venues; 26 invited lectures and presentations to student groups at TAMU and to the local community; 8 poster sessions; and 5 webinars. To date, he has graduated 10 Ph.D. students as primary advisor, and served in doctoral advisory committees for 16 other students. Dr. Vanegas also has been active in developing and delivering professional continuing education programs and courses to 51 academic and professional/industry organizations in the U.S., and from other countries, including Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, and Spain.