Sameer Bhargava is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Clark Construction Group, LLC, a building and civil contractor headquartered in Bethesda, MD with over $4 billion in revenue.
Previously, Mr. Bhargava was a managing director and director of corporate development at The Carlyle Group in Washington, DC, focused on firm strategy, acquisitions, and new product development. At Carlyle, Mr. Bhargava also spent time in Carlyle’s U.S. Buyout Fund investment team, both in its Global Aerospace and Defense Group and its Global Industrial Group. He has been part of the Board of Veyance Technologies, Kinder Morgan, Panolam Industries, Wesco, RPK Holdings, and Vought Aerostructures.
Prior to joining Carlyle, Mr. Bhargava was at Bain Capital, LLC, Advent International Corporation, and McKinsey & Company in Chicago.
Mr. Bhargava serves as Vice Chair of the board of The Potomac School and has served as chairman of the board for Higher Achievement, a program focused on middle school youth in at-risk communities.
Mr. Bhargava graduated from Harvard University with an honors degree in biology and received his MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School. He resides in Virginia with his wife Nimisha and their four children.
Justin Chapman is a Senior Development Manager with Skanska Commercial Development US, where he is responsible for the full range of development activities on mixed use projects in the Washington, D.C.region. He holds Masters Degrees in both Real Estate from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and Urban Planning from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Since 2008, Justin has engaged in the planning and development of over 1.2 million square feet of built projects across office, sports, retail, and university asset types including:
- 17 x M – Washington, DC – 330,000 SF Office and Retail
- 99M – Washington, DC – 235,000 SF Office and Retail
- Howard University’s Interdisciplinary Research Building – 81,000 SF Office and Laboratory
- New Balance’s Boston Landing Sports Complex – 325,000 SF Sports and Retail
- DC 2024 Olympic Bid Masterplan – 3 million SF mixed use development planned Justin has been an adjunct professor at the George Washington University School of Business, where he taught a semester course in sport facility management and development.
Justin is an active member of the Urban Land Institute where he was recently appointed to the
Washington Council Executive Committee, and sits on the Public Private Partnership National Product Council.
Justin currently resides in Potomac Maryland with his wife Randi, and son Brook.
Vanessa is the Managing Director of Nan Fung Development Ltd. and oversees Nan Fung’s entire real estate property portfolio.
She is also the Founder of The Mills–a revitalization project of transforming the Nan Fung Textile Mills into a global innovation techstyle destination comprising of art, start-up incubator and experiential retail. Through The Mills project and her experience in working for AECOM as a Landscape Designer as well as a part-time lecturer at HKU on City Branding, she hopes to inspire the younger generation and push Hong Kong’s leadership potential beyond the status quo.
She is a convener of NarrativeHK, an initiative promoting positive attitude among her generation in envisioning the future of HK. She co-founded Quo Kefir Believers, a natural probiotic health food company, and the co-owner of HK’s first CrossFit gym, CrossFit Asphodel.
Vanessa obtained her Master in Landscape Architecture at Harvard University and Bachelors in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley.
Sean Chiao is an AECOM Fellow, driving AECOM’s commitment to global strategic projects, key clients, technical excellence, and thought leadership across its five Global Business Lines. Prior to serving as a Fellow, Sean was the Chief Executive of the Buildings + Places Global Business Line, where he actively oversaw global business operations and the mobilization of AECOM’s international talent, comprising over ten thousand individuals working in architecture and interiors, urbanism and planning, building and systems engineering, and cost and project management. With over 30 years of experience in urban design and management, Sean has spearheaded award-winning masterplans for new towns and the regeneration of existing urban landscapes across Asia, including the Kuala Lumpur River of Life; Metro Manila Bonifacio Global City in the Philippines; and Jinji Lake Suzhou Industrial Park new town in Suzhou, China.
Sean is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA), a Global Trustee of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), a member of Asia Society’s Executive Committee, Council Member of Harvard University Graduate School of Design Dean’s Leadership Council, and Board Member of Harvard University’s Master in Design Engineering External Advisory Board.
Dana Cho is a Product & Design Executive. She brings a human-centered lens to drive product innovation and create experiences that engender customer love and loyalty.
At Google, she leads all aspects of design for Google Search. As head of UX, she oversees how Google’s flagship product shows up across mobile, desktop and app experiences. She manages a global team of design strategists, interaction designers, visual designers, motion designers and UX engineers to provide billions of users with access to knowledge and inspire them to action. Previously, she was Partner at IDEO and Managing Director of the Palo Alto studio. At IDEO she was also the head of the Brand studio and co-founded Smart Space, applying IDEO’s methods and approach to real estate, urban strategy, healthcare, retail and hospitality. She sits on the External Advisory Board for Harvard’s Master of Design Engineering program, Harvard’s first-ever collaborative degree program. She also served as advisor to the CEO of USG, a leading manufacturer of building materials and innovative solutions. Her experience spans product development, design thinking, business strategy and organizational transformation work across a broad range of industries (hospitality, retail, health care, consumer product) and across digital, physical and human-interaction based solutions.
She has been featured in Fast Company, Core 77, PSFK and Rotman Magazine. She has taught and lectured at California College of Arts and was a visiting lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She has also spoken at various conferences including Childx at Stanford, WWD CEO Summit, SX, ULI, Healthcare Design and GlobalShop.
Bridget Colman graduated with an M.A. in the History of Design and Curatorial Studies from the joint program at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, and Parsons School of Design, NY. She is Canadian born, and having spent years living in France, Japan, and the UK, she settled with her husband and two daughters in NYC. Her focus on design and social history led to projects at The Sir John Soane Museum, National Portrait Gallery of London, The Attingham Trust, and Strawberry Hill. She currently sits on the Boards of The American Friends of the National Portrait Gallery of London and The Branksome Hall Foundation. She worked with PEN America in 2014 to found PEN Myanmar, a human rights organization for authors, writers, and journalists.
Her foundation, established in Canada, initiates and supports projects based on exploring beyond the constrictions of geographical, cultural, and society’s tethers. The support of education has become the conduit of this work. In Canada with committed relationships at McGill, The University of Western Ontario, and Branksome Hall and in the U.S. with work done to forge programs across international borders at Harvard, The Brearley School, Brooklyn Friends Academy, and the National Outdoor Leadership School, Bridget sought ways to develop initiatives that let young people feel capable achieving goals they considered beyond their reach. Bridget sees the GSD as a force to acknowledge intellectually the might of design in uniting the academic schools of thought at Harvard and by extension beyond. She is a parent of the College class of 2021.
Peter Coombe is a founding partner of Sage and Coombe Architects WBE, where for over two decades, he has built a diverse portfolio focused on social infrastructure. Notable work includes the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex, a state of the art indoor track and field venue, the three phase renovation and reimagination of the Noguchi Museum, and Mulberry Commons, a transformational urban green space in Newark, NJ. His firm has been selected twice for Design Excellence initiatives at the NYC Department of Design and Construction and three times at the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation and has won numerous awards from the NYC Public Design Commission. Before founding Sage and Coombe, he worked for Richard Meier & Partners in New York and in Europe. He has practiced architecture for more than three decades and is licensed in New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Ohio. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Peter received his BA from Yale University and his Masters in Architecture from the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, where he was the editor of Harvard Architecture Review 8 and received the Alpha Rho Chi Medal. He has served on design juries at Harvard, Columbia University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York Institute of Technology, University of Pennsylvania, Pratt Institute, University of Southern California, and the University of Texas at Austin. Peter is currently the Chair of the GSD Alumni Council and was a Co-Chair of the Student /Alumni Exchange Committee.
Ronald M. Druker, President of The Druker Company, Ltd. has been involved in a variety of development activities encompassing retail, hotel, residential, and office projects. His most recent focus has been on urban mixed use developments, including The Heritage on The Garden in Boston’s Back Bay, on The Public Garden, and Atelier|505 in Boston’s South End. Both of these complexes were recognized by the Urban Land Institute by winning the coveted “Oscar” of the profession, The ULI Award for Excellence.
The Druker Company currently has two Boston Redevelopment Authority approved projects which are being leased: 350 Boylston Street in Boston’s Back Bay, a 250,000 sq. ft. mixed-use retail and office building across from The Public Garden and 80 East Berkeley Street in Boston’s South End, a 320,000 sq. ft. retail and office complex.
Druker is a graduate of Franklin and Marshall College, The Columbia Graduate School of Business, and was a Loeb Fellow at The Harvard Graduate School of Design where he also was a member of the Urban Design faculty from 1975-1983.
Amy C. Edmondson is the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School, a chair established to support the study of human interactions that lead to the creation of successful enterprises that contribute to the betterment of society. Number 13 on the 2017 Thinkers50 list of the worlds’ most influential management thinkers, which has recognized her contributions since 2011, Edmondson speaks regularly on leadership and management in companies and at conferences around the world. She is the author of six books, including The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety for Learning, Innovation and Growth (Wiley: forthcoming) and Teaming: How Organizations Learn, Innovate, & Compete in the Knowledge Economy (Jossey-Bass, 2012), as well as Building the future: Big teaming for audacious innovation (Berrett-Koehler, 2016).
Before her academic career, she was Director of Research at Pecos River Learning Centers. In the early 1980s, she worked as Chief Engineer for architect/inventor Buckminster Fuller, and her book A Fuller Explanation: The Synergetic Geometry of R. Buckminster Fuller (Birkauser Boston, 1987) clarifies Fuller’s mathematical contributions for a non-technical audience. She received her PhD in organizational behavior, AM in psychology, and AB in engineering and design, all from Harvard University.
As Chief Executive Officer, Phil is responsible for Perkins+Will’s strategic focus and business performance. He is directly involved with quality initiatives including design excellence, sustainability, research, and technical delivery; he oversees firm growth, diversification and development; and he defines the firm’s business objectives for performance, collaborative operations, and staff development.
In 1993, Phil joined the firm as an architect and has worked on an array of projects with Education, Science, Healthcare, and Corporate clients. He has served in a variety of firm leadership roles, eventually becoming Chief Executive Officer in 2006. Phil holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Visual Arts and Philosophy from Harvard College and a Master of Architecture from the Graduate School of Design, where he received the AIA School Medal. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and a LEED Accredited Professional.
Phil is passionately involved with a number of arts, design, professional, civic, and educational institutions. He is a Board Member of the National Building Museum, the Museum of Design Atlanta, and the Woodruff Arts Center; and served as Co-Chair of the GSD’s Grounded Visionaries campaign.
Maja Hoffmann is a Swiss-born contemporary art collector and a supporter and producer of a diverse range of projects, which include art, publications, films, and environmental initiatives.
She is the founder of the LUMA Foundation (2004) whose aim is to launch and produce cultural and art projects worldwide. The LUMA Foundation supports initiatives in Switzerland and around the world, including the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College, and the New Museum of Contemporary Art in NYC. It also supports a number of art-based international initiatives and institutional projects, such as Kunsthalle Basel and Kunst-Werke Berlin, the Fotomuseum Winterthur, the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, the Venice Biennale and Artangel and the Serpentine Gallery. The LUMA Foundation began the master planning that will bring forward one of the major cultural sites in Europe, the Parc des Ateliers in Arles. This project was imagined and developed in cooperation with Frank Gehry and a core group of artists, curators, academics, art historians, scientists, and business leaders. It will be a multi-purpose cultural park within the cityscape, creating a campus and public garden in the city centre and providing infrastructure for activities varying from exhibitions and festivals to educational and archival facilities and artists’ residencies.
Hoffmann is also a board member at the following institutions: New Museum of Contemporary Art in NYC, Tate Gallery, Bard College, The Africa Center, and the Swiss Institute.
With the Irving Group since 1983, John is President of Ocean Capital, companies active in real estate, broadcasting, construction, and building materials. He received a Bachelor of Arts (Economics CLGS) ’83 and Masters in Business Administration ’89 from Harvard and is the parent of a Class of 2017 Harvard graduate.
John is a member of numerous Harvard and Harvard Business School committees and engaged in a variety of other University activities. He is a member of The Institute of Corporate Directors (Audit Chair), Board of Directors of The Atlantic Provinces Economic Council, Honourary Colonel 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, Past-Chair of The Saint John Regional Hospital Foundation, The Atlantic Institute for Market Studies, The New Brunswick Museum and membership on Kings Landing Historical Settlement and Heritage Canada Foundation.
John has been recognized for his involvement, commitment and support of various cultural, heritage and educational activities including the Harvard Hiram S. Hunn Memorial Award, amongst others.
Carola Jain is the CEO and Co-Founder of DMINTI, a pioneering organization that partners with the world’s leading contemporary and emerging artists to curate, produce, and position impactful digital art and Web3 experiences.
Prior to her current board position at Spartan, the Global Extreme Wellness brand, Carola was the Global CMO overseeing all aspects of Spartan’s marketing and brand strategy. Carola spent over 16 years at Interbrand as Senior Director of Brand Strategy and Analytics, where she led the financial services and non-profit practice as well as overseeing Interbrand’s top 100 ‘Best Global Brands Study.’
Carola currently serves on the Peggy Guggenheim Advisory Board and on the Acquisition Committee of Contemporary Art at the Centre Pompidou, as well as being a member of the Dean’s Leadership Council at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design and the Advisory Council of the College of Arts & Sciences at Cornell University. She is also a Trustee of the Jain Family Institute, which focuses on impacting complex societal structures (i.e. education finance/student debt crisis, guaranteed income, and digital ethics) by evaluating key contributing catalysts and launching high-impact pilot programs.
Carrie A. Johnson MArch ’93 holds a Master in Architecture degree from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Architecture, from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Working with companies such as Apple and Handel Architects, Carrie has over twenty years of experience in design, development, construction management, and leadership on a variety of projects, including mixed-use developments, high-end residential, hospitality, retail, office campus structures, and office workplace designs. She is a member of the Sam Fox School National Council, and a Playful Learning Landscapes Steering Committee Member for The Brookings Institution. She is now focusing on creating and executing tangible design concepts that make an aesthetic and practical contribution to diverse low-income and BIPOC communities and environments. She resides in San Francisco, California.
Chairman of McArthurGlen, Europe’s largest owner, developer and manager of designer outlets, J.W. ‘Joey’ Kaempfer, Jr founded the company in 1993. After graduating with a BA from New York University’s Washington Square College and an MBA from Harvard University, Mr. Kaempfer went on to found The Kaempfer Company in 1977, a diversified real estate development, management and construction firm based in Washington, D.C. and merged The Kaempfer Company with one of the US’s largest property owning companies, Vornado Realty Trust, in 2003.
Mr. Kaempfer is passionate about design and architecture, having worked with some of the world’s most highly regarded architects over the course of his 40 year career in property. In his spare time, he has been a guest lecturer at many universities including Harvard Graduate School of Design and serves on the board of a number of charitable organisations.
Melissa attended the Harvard Graduate School of Design and has worked internationally with architects and developers, including PDCM Yuncken Freeman in Hong Kong and Australia and Euro Disney in Paris. At Euro Disney, she worked in real estate development and strategic planning, serving as a key liaison between top Disney management and major architects.
Now based in New York, Melissa founded the Kaish Family Art Project with the mission of preserving and promoting the legacy of her parents—artists Luise and Morton Kaish, whose work can be found in major museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Melissa holds an MBA from Columbia University in Finance and Marketing and a BA from Dartmouth College in Art History & Fine Arts. She has served on a number of boards, including the Board of Governors of the National Academy Museum and School in New York and the Board of the Hood Museum, Dartmouth College. She is a parent a Harvard College student, class of 2020.
Regine Leibinger founded her architectural practice Barkow Leibinger together with Frank Barkow in 1993 in Berlin. Barkow Leibinger’s work is realized over a wide range of scales and building types – important milestones include the Biosphere in Potsdam, the Campus Restaurant in Ditzingen and the Tour Total office high-rise in Berlin. Their work was included in the Serpentine Summer House program 2016 in London and the 2nd Chicago Architecture Biennial 2017 and was shown in a solo exhibition at the Haus am Waldsee in Berlin in 2020.
Regine is also a member of the Visiting Committee at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture, Trustee at the American Academy and member of the Akademie der Künste Berlin. Along with Frank Barkow, she was visiting professor at Princeton and Cornell University. In 2020, she was named an AIA Honorary Fellow by the American Institute of Architects. In her conversation with Julia Gamolina, Regine talks about staying positive and encouraging others in her role as a role model and leader, advising young architects to work together and to have no fears.
Glenn D. Lowry became the sixth director of The Museum of Modern Art in 1995.
He leads a staff of over 750 people and directs an active program of exhibitions, acquisitions, and publications.
A strong advocate of contemporary art, he has lectured and written extensively in support of contemporary art and artists and the role of museums in society, among other topics.
He is a member of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Board of Trustees, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a resident member of the American Philosophical Society.
He also serves on the advisory council of the Department of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University and is a Trustee of the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD).
In 2004, the French government honored Mr. Lowry with the title of Officier dans L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
Born in 1954 in New York City and raised in Williamstown, Massachusetts, Mr. Lowry received a B.A. degree (1976) magna cum laude from Williams College, Williamstown, and M.A. (1978) and Ph.D. (1982) degrees in History of Art from Harvard University.
Michael Maltzan founded Michael Maltzan Architecture, Inc. in 1995. His projects cross a wide range of typologies, from cultural institutions to city infrastructure. Michael’s notable projects include the Moody Center for the Arts at Rice University, MoMA QNS, Star Apartments, the Pittman Dowell Residence, the new Sixth Street Viaduct, MIT Vassar Street Residential Hall, and the Winnipeg Art Gallery Inuit Art Centre. His work has gained international acclaim for innovation in both design and construction and has been widely featured in publications and exhibitions worldwide.
Michael received an MArch from the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, and BFA and BArch degrees from the Rhode Island School of Design. Michael is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a recipient of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Architecture Award, and the 2016 AIA Los Angeles Gold Medal Honoree.
Scott Mead is a fine art photographer, philanthropist and investor. A Founding Partner of Richmond Park Partners, he was a Partner and Managing Director at Goldman Sachs and a Senior Advisor at Apax Partners.
Scott studied photography under renowned photographers William Eggleston and Emmet Gowin in the mid-1970s, prior to his banking career, and was an active photographer for nearly 15 years. In 2010, he rediscovered his extensive archive in the attic and with the encouragement and guidance of a number of artists and friends, he resumed his artistic voyage.
An exhibition “Above the Clouds” took place at Hamiltons Gallery in January 2018 featuring works from his book, Above the Clouds, which was published by Prestel in November 2017. He is currently finalizing a book and exhibition called Equivalents.
He serves or has served on many boards in the UK and USA including the Tate Foundation Executive Committee, the Photographers’ Gallery, the International Center of Photography, Cambridge University, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, Harvard University, Harvard Alumni Association, Phillips Academy (Andover) and the Women’s and Men’s Tennis Associations (WTA and ATP Tours).
Through the Mead Family Foundation, of which he is Chairman and Founder, he has established several fellowships, endowments and other opportunities for artists, medical researchers, athletes and students.
Allyson Mendenhall, FASLA, is a landscape architect who has practiced in several leading landscape architecture, planning and urban design firms since graduating with distinction from the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) in 1999. As Director of Strategic Initiatives at Sasaki’s landscape architecture, civil engineering, and ecology practice, she leads evidence-based design initiatives and the development of standards and best practices. Allyson is recognized for bridging design practice and academia through research partnerships and publications. She thrives in settings where she can connect people around content, foster knowledge exchange, and inculcate effective methods in design practices.
In addition to her GSD roles on the Dean’s Leadership Council and as a past chair of the Alumni Council, Allyson serves as the President of the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA), the first GSD graduate to lead this 180-year-old organization representing Harvard University’s 400,000 global alumni. Her prior roles on the HAA Board include Vice President of University-Wide Alumni Affairs and Graduate School Director representing the GSD. A former board member of the Landscape Architecture Foundation and the Denver Botanic Gardens, she currently serves on the Advisory Board of the University of Colorado Denver College of Architecture. Allyson graduated from Harvard College with a degree in English and American Literature in 1990.
Riki Nishimura, AIA, AICP, is a Principal at Populous, a global architectural design firm specializing in creating environments and venues that draw communities and people together. He is a licensed architect, certified planner, and urban strategist with over two decades of experience in the strategy and design of our cities. His specialty is providing design strategies for maximizing value for all stakeholders for next-generation Venue integrated destination communities. He approaches design from a collaborative and evidence-based perspective, resulting in the design and implementation of world-class experiences. In the process, he balances visionary and fiscally responsible development to achieve memorable, sustainable, and enduring places in both the public and private realms.
Riki’s experience includes award-winning projects that create unique and extraordinary user experiences and optimize the functionality and viability of venue-integrated mixed-use and entertainment districts, mixed-use urban regeneration districts, next-generation waterfronts, corporate and technology workplace campuses, university campuses, and urban cultural parks.
Committed to furthering sustainable strategies, practices, and contributions to the real estate community, he is active in the Urban Land Institute (ULI). The ULI recognized him in 2016 with the 40 Under 40 award. He contributes to the ULI Advisory Services and serves on the ULI Americas Executive Committee, the Global Exchange Product Council, and the ULISF Executive Board. Riki is the Co-Chair of the Harvard GSD Alumni Council and serves on the Board of Directors of the Harvard Alumni Association. He actively participates as a design review critic at Harvard, Stanford, UC Berkeley, and UCLA, and he has held an appointment at Stanford University as an adjunct lecturer in Risk and Resilience at the School of Engineering. He received a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Toronto and a Master of Architecture and Urban Design from Harvard University.
Mr. Patel is Chairman International and Senior Partner of Private Equity of Apollo Management, with responsibility for helping to build and develop Apollo’s international businesses based out of New York City. He was formerly Head of Europe and Managing Partner of Apollo European Principal Finance based in London. He joined Apollo Management in 2010 as Head of International Private Equity. He is a member of the firm’s Management Committee and Investment Committees. He was previously a partner at Goldman, Sachs & Co. and was co-head of European and Indian Private Equity for the Principal Investment Area (PIA). He was a member of the Goldman Sachs Partnership Committee and a member of the Investment Committee of the Goldman Sachs Foundation. Sanjay started his career at Goldman Sachs in 1983 and spent 17 years in PIA in New York and London. He was President of Greenwich Street Capital from 1998 to 2003.
He currently serves on the board of directors of Tegra Apparel and is a member of the Financial Sector Forum for the Bank of England. He is a member of the Board of Overseers for Harvard University and the Stanford Graduate School of Business Advisory Council. He also serves on the Investment Committee of the Eton College Foundation and is the Chair of the Eton Development Committee. He received his AB and SM engineering degrees, magna cum laude, from Harvard College and received his MBA degree from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Wannaporn is the founder of P Landscape Company Limited (PLA), a landscape architecture and design studio based in Bangkok, Thailand. PLA is specialized in high end resort, hotel and residential projects, both in Southeast Asian region and worldwide. Her work spans from the Fiji Islands, Asia Pacific, to London which ranges from condominiums, retail and public spaces to high-end private residences.
Prior to starting PLA, Wannaporn worked with honorable professor Decha Boonkam at DSB Associate and Belt Collins. For her education background, she earned a Master degree in Landscape Architecture from Harvard University and a Bachelor degree in Architecture from Chulalongkorn University.
Wannaporn’s design philosophy focuses on contemporary landscape architecture that harmonizes the practical integration of art, ecology, and cultural heritage to maintain and enhance the environment. She believes that landscape is an art that goes beyond the physical and functional aspects of a site. It is a medium which enables a connection between people and nature. These aspects are all reflected in her works and it is recognized by many leading hotel operators in the world as well as multiple awards PLA has received over the years.
Samuel Plimpton serves as Senior Advisor to the Private Investment Group, after serving until June 2012 as co-head of the Private Investment Group, and as a member of Baupost’s Management Committee. Prior to joining Baupost, Sam was an independent advisor, developer and investor in real estate ventures. Sam held a research appointment in Real Estate at the Harvard Business School from 1978 to 1980. Sam graduated from Stanford University, received his MBA from Harvard Business School, and his Masters in Architecture from Harvard University Graduate School of Design. He has served as a Trustee or Overseer of, among others, National Braille Press, New England Conservatory of Music, The Trustees of Reservations, The Boston Museum of Fine Arts, The Massachusetts Farm and Conservation Land Trust, The Harvard Real Estate Academic Initiative, and Boston Foundation for Architecture.
Craig Robins is an entrepreneur, real estate developer, and art collector based in Miami, Florida. As the CEO and President of Dacra, the real estate development company he founded in 1987, Robins focuses on developing creative communities that integrate art, design and architecture to accelerate asset value creation and enrich urban life. Dacra has spearheaded some of the most successful and transformative commercial, residential and mixed-use projects in Miami’s history, including South Beach, the Lincoln Road area, Allison Island and currently, the Miami Design District. The latter is an 18-square block neighborhood dedicated to fashion, design and art that incorporates the work of emerging and established architects, site-specific public art, and the stores by the world’s most significant luxury brands.
In the late 80’s through the early 1990s, Robins played an integral role in the repositioning and revitalization of Miami’s South Beach through Dacra’s restoration of Art Deco landmarks, and the creation of new commercial and cultural opportunities.
An avid collector and supporter of the arts and architecture, Mr. Robins is also the Founder and Chairman of the Anaphiel Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting arts education.
Jackie Soffer is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Turnberry, one of the country’s most dynamic real estate development groups specializing in large-scale retail, hospitality, residential and commercial assets. Under Soffer’s leadership, the Aventura Mall has expanded to integrate luxury brands, chef-driven restaurants, limited edition experiences and museum-caliber public art and design to engage its 30 million annual visitors. In partnership with the Terra Group, Turnberry is developing an 800-key hotel connected to the Miami Beach Convention Center. Jackie Soffer is collaborating with LeFrak to develop Solé Mia in North Miami, the 184-acre project with plans for 12 residential towers, 500,000 square feet of retail and commercial space all anchored around Laguna Solé, South Florida’s first 7-acre swimmable Crystal Lagoon. Turnberry also owns and operates the new, 533-room JW Marriott Nashville; and Destin Commons, a 500,000+ square-foot, open-air lifestyle center in Northwest Florida. In addition to the Dean’s Leadership Council at the GSD, Soffer is a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees at the University of Miami; a member of Cornell University’s Center for Real Estate and Finance and a member of the Board of Trustees for the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami. She also serves as an Independent Director on the Board of Washington Prime Group, a retail real estate investment trust with a portfolio of 120 enclosed regional malls and open-air lifestyle community centers.
Abigail Turin is a co-founder and Principal of Kallos Turin, an international architecture and design firm based in San Francisco and London. Kallos Turin’s body of work includes high-end single-family homes, residential developments, offices, restaurants, galleries, and retail spaces throughout the US, South America, and Europe.
In 2010, the firm received the International Award from the Royal Institute of British Architects for its design of the Villalagos Residences in Uruguay. Prior to founding Kallos Turin, Abigail worked at David Chipperfield Architects in London, where she and the firm’s co-founder first met. Abigail received her BA from Wellesley College and her Master’s degree in Architecture from Harvard University Graduate School of Design. She currently serves as the Chair of SFMOMA’s Architecture and Design Accessions Committee and sits on the National Committee of the Whitney Museum.
Rudy Weissenberg is a recent graduate of the Master in Design Studies (MDes) Art Design and Public Domain program with a focus on art in public space and art and architectural history. He is part of the team that completed the temporary urban intervention in Allston titled WE ALL, a design competition led by Harvard University and the GSD. WE ALL was situated in the Grove, a site at the intersection of North Harvard Street and Western Avenue that serves as an entry point from Cambridge into Allston. It presented a communal open space framed by a segmented, vibrantly colored wall, comprising hundreds of PVC and plexiglass tubes that illuminate at night to create a lively and dynamic atmosphere. Amarillo-yellow ground paint and a series of benches activated the corner as a gathering space.
He came to the GSD after a successful career in media in the US, Latin America and Europe compounded with a great affinity towards design and art. He is currently launching real estate initiatives in Mexico and his native Guatemala. He is also founding a design driven gallery in Mexico City, continuing to pursue his interest in working with artists and designers. He is the Co-Chair of the Latin American Circle of Friends of the Guggenheim Museum.
