Future Design Leaders Match Exceeds Fundraising Goal and Doubles Fellowship Impact

GSD alumni and friends empower limitless design education through philanthropy

The 2022-2023 fiscal year successfully concluded the Future Design Leaders Match that opens the door to a GSD education, regardless of a student’s financial circumstances. Thanks to the generous support of GSD alumni and friends and Sarah M. Whiting, GSD dean and Josep Lluís Sert Professor of Architecture, this time-limited matching opportunity added over $8.5 million to endowed fellowships. This urgent student support initiative launched in March 2022 broadens the impact of a GSD education by attracting and enrolling a range of students who reflect the world they set out to shape.

Portrait of Sarah Whiting

Portrait of Sarah M. Whiting, GSD Dean and Josep Lluís Sert Professor of Architecture.

Dean Whiting envisioned a meaningful way to provide robust funding to students, lessen financial burdens, and afford flexibility of choice in pursuing professions across and beyond design. To realize this extraordinary opportunity, Dean Whiting dedicated a fund of $4 million for matching donor contributions, ensuring that each established fellowship will have double the impact. Today, we celebrate this monumental opportunity to collectively make design education accessible to talented designers, planners, and architects.

The GSD is grateful for alumni and friends who have joined us in partnership to propel the school—and design—forward through philanthropy. The Match motivated 36 GSD alumni and friends to boldly support students, and we are proud to share the initiative’s success. We raised $4.26 million from philanthropy—surpassing our fundraising goal with a total impact of $8.5 million—and established 19 new fellowships and expanded six existing fellowships. At least 30 students will benefit from these endowed named fellowships, which will exist in perpetuity within the Harvard University endowment and grow over time. Fellowships established by Future Design Leaders Match donors expanded the number of fellowships at the GSD by 24%, which fuels our mission to welcome more voices to Gund Hall, enriching design education for all.

Betty and I wholeheartedly support Dean Whiting’s admirable goal to make the GSD financially accessible to all while honoring the legacy of the GSD’s Alumni Council. We hope this fund will inspire others in our community to actively support student financial aid.

Peter Coombe MArch ’88, Alumni Council Chair Emeritus, and Betty Chen AB ’87 Established the Graduate School of Design Alumni Council Fellowship Fund

Thank you, Dean Whiting, for creating and launching the Future Design Leaders Program that will enable the most talented architects, designers, and planners to attend the Harvard Graduate School of Design regardless of financial circumstances. We are proud of the opportunity to honor our parents and future leaders in the design professions through the I. M. and Eileen Pei Fellowship Fund.

Li Chung (Sandi) Pei MArch ’76 Chien Chung (Didi) Pei AB ’68, MArch ’72 and Li Chung (Sandi) Pei AB ’72, MArch ’76 Established the I. M. Pei Fellowship Fund

The next generation of GSD students—future design leaders—will experience expanded opportunities to learn, explore, and discover their desired path through innovation and collaboration. Together, today’s GSD community imagines and creates new futures for the world.

Future Design Leaders Match Donor Listing

We are delighted to thank and acknowledge the following alumni and friends who generously established endowed Fellowships at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design as part of the Future Design Leaders Match.

  • Donor Confidential (5)
  • Abigail Turin MArch ’97 and Jonathan Gans established the Turin Gans Fellowship Fund
  • Brian Douglas Lee MArch ’78 and Wendy Szeto Lee established the Lee Family Fellowship Fund
  • Robyn Morgenstern Rosenblatt MArch ’97 established the Morgenstern Rosenblatt Fellowship Fund
  • Peter Coombe MArch ’88 and Betty Chen AB ’87 established the Graduate School of Design Alumni Council Fellowship Fund
  • Carola and Bobby Jain established the Jain Family Fellowship Fund
  • Scott Mead AB ’77 established the Mead Family Fellowship Fund
  • Leslie and Sanjay Patel AB ’83, SM ’83 established the Patel GSD Family Fellowship Fund
  • Bridget Colman and Mark M. Colman AB ’83, MBA ’87 expanded the Horne Family Fellowship Fund
  • Kongjian Yu DDes ’95 expanded the Yu Family Carl Steinitz Fellowship Fund
  • Joel D. Heisey MAUD ’91, MPA ’91 established the Joel D. Heisey Urban Design Fellowship Fund
  • Kathleen S. Nagle MArch ’87 and Ralph E. Johnson MArch ’73 expanded the Nagle-Johnson Family Fellowship Fund
  • Laurinda Spear and Bernardo Fort-Brescia MArch ’75 established the Harold Fort MLU ’14 Fellowship Fund
  • Laurinda Spear and Bernardo Fort-Brescia MArch ’75 expanded the Marisa Fort MArch ’06 Fellowship Fund
  • Camille Mendoza established the Camille P. Mendoza and Paul V. Clemeno Design Fellowship Fund
  • Robert Ho COL ’77 established the Ho Family Fellowship Fund
  • Bil Ehrlich BArch ’67 established the Ehrlich Family Fellowship Fund
  • Costantza Sbokou MDes ’01 established the Costantza Sbokou-Constantakopoulou MDes ’01 Fellowship Fund
  • Jeanne Gang MArch ’93 and Mark Schendel MArch ’89 established the Jeanne Gang MArch ’93 and Mark Schendel MArch ’89 Fellowship Fund
  • Siddharth Yog MBA ’04 established the Yog PRIDE in Design 1973 Fellowship Fund and the Yog PRIDE in Design 1973 Current-Use Fellowship Fund
  • Chien Chung Pei AB ’68, MArch ’72 and Li Chung Pei AB ’72, MArch ’76 established the I. M. Pei Fellowship Fund
  • Faisal Abdulaziz Almogren MUP ’16 and Nawaf Bin Ayyaf Almogren MDes ’22 established the Abdulaziz Bin Ayyaf Fellowship Fund

 

For any questions on the Future Design Leaders Match, please contact Courtney Ward.