Yvonne von Hartel is one of the founding members of Melbourne-based architectural and urban planning firm peckvonhartel, which was established in 1980 and since has expanded its offices to Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane. Von Hartel was the first woman to graduate with an honors degree in architecture from the University of Melbourne and is a Life Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects (LFAIA). In a career spanning over 48 years, she has worked on some of Australia's largest infrastructure projects, and has taught both full-time and part-time at the School of Architecture at the University of Melbourne. Von Hartel is a member of the University of Wollongong SMART Infrastructure Advisory Council and the La Trobe University Council. Early life and education Yvonne von Hartel was born in Melbourne in August 1943 as the only child of Austrian migrants who moved to Australia in 1938. Her father was a civil engineer and the owner of an aluminium fabricating business, which partly fostered her interest in architecture. She began studying architecture at the University of Melbourne in 1961, the first year the university offered an honours degree in the field. She studied a wide range of other subjects required to obtain an honours degree, including arts, fine arts and philosophy. In 1961 von Hartel completed her degree, and received the Stephenson & Turner medal as the top architectural student. Along with her degree in architecture she has also completed the Executive Management Program at the Melbourne Business School. Career Von Hartel began her practice career while studying, working in various architectural practices during the holidays. On graduation she joined the Melbourne-based firm Yuncken Freeman. During her time at Yuncken Freeman, she worked on numerous projects in Melbourne, including the BHP House at 140 William Street. It is now recognised as a work of nationally significant twentieth-century architecture. Von Hartel also tutored architecture part-time at the University of Melbourne and in 1971 she became a full-time tenured lecturer in architecture. In 1974 Von Hartel returned to practice at Yuncken Freeman. Architect Robert Peck, who had joined Yuncken Freeman in 1968, became the managing director of Yuncken Freeman. The two then opened the Yuncken Freeman Hong Kong office (YFHK) to counteract the effect of the credit crisis in Australia, relocating many architects as they could from Melbourne to Hong Kong. They then later opened offices for Yuncken Freeman in Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta.