She received a BS from the University of California, Berkeley; an MArch from the University of Virginia; and a PhD in the history of architecture and urbanism from Cornell University. Her first book Unbounded Practice: Women and Landscape Architecture in the Early Twentieth Century (University of Virginia Press, 2009) was awarded the J. B. Jackson Award by the Foundation for Landscape Studies. Way curated two exhibits, on the landscape architect Richard Haag and on design practice and history in the Pacific Northwest. She is currently writing on landscape architect A. E. Bye (forthcoming, Norton Press) and collaborating on the edited collection Now Urbanism: The Future City is Now (forthcoming, Routledge) with Jeff Hou, Ben Spencer, and Ken Yocom. She is a founding member of the UW Cities Collaboratory.