Maya Laurinaitis Drake

Biography

Maya Laurinaitis Drake joined the School of Architecture in November 2023 as an academic advisor. She has been working at UVA since September 2015, as a full-time staff person and general faculty. Maya’s primary role was working as an academic and study abroad advisor in the School of Engineering & Applied Science. Maya also taught a course for 7 years, ENGR 2595: The Art of Storytelling: Producing Science and Engineering Documentaries. She has over 20 years of media experience that she enjoys sharing with her students.

Maya is an Emmy Award-winning documentary producer and educator. She has won numerous awards from film festivals around the world. She worked at National Geographic for 15 years producing films for the National Geographic Explorer Series, PBS, National Geographic Channel and the NBC Specials. She also worked at Discovery Communications, The Teaching Company (producer of The Great Courses series) and Sylvan Learning.

Maya established a faculty-led study abroad summer program in Vilnius, Lithuania giving students the opportunity to work on real-world requests for sustainability interventions in a UNESCO World Heritage City. She is currently enrolled at Harvard Extension School working towards a master’s degree in sustainability with emphasis on natural resources management.