Professor Miguel Toshihiko Hirata Kitahara is a Mexican citizen, born in 1958, with a degree in graphic communication design from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (1981), a Master's in Visual Arts from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (1989), and a Master's degree in Education for Queen's University in Canada (2016).

Since 1989 he has been a full-time professor at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, attached to the Design Evaluation Department in the Division of Sciences and Arts for the design of the Azcapotzalco Campus.

With designer training, he has researched popular Mexican typography, abstraction in graphic design, and the history of graphic design in Mexico.
He currently researches design teaching, visual literacy, multimedia Learning, Teaching Competencies, and E-Learning.