Professor Díaz teaches Design Fundamentals and Painting, areas in which he also focuses his research and creative work as an artist. He exhibits his paintings with regularity throughout the southeast region of the country, as well as in Puerto Rico. Before joining the faculty of the College of Design in 1988, he was an Assistant Professor of Design in the School of Architecture of the University of Puerto Rico. He previously had been Assistant Professor of Art in the Fine Arts Department of the College of Humanities, U.P.R. and has also taught art at the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico.

He received the Outstanding Teacher Award in 2000, and the nomination for Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Professor of the College of Design in 2002.

Lope Max Díaz has served as juror in numerous art exhibitions in North Carolina and in Puerto Rico. He has also served on art/design panels for the Raleigh Arts Commission, the North Carolina Arts Council, the McColl Center for Visual Art, Charlotte, N.C., Torpedo Factory Art Center, Alexandria, VA, the Mid Atantic Arts Foundation, Baltimore, MD, and the National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, DC.

For his contributions as an artist, educator, and service to the community, he was awarded the 2003 Raleigh Medal of Arts and the 2003 Centennial Medal from the University of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico.