2023-2024 Annual Report of Giving

Dear Alumni and Friends,

Imagine the ripple effect of generosity—it is truly the catalyst that initiates positive change. The GSD is a hub for innovation because of people like you who support design education and its role in shaping the human experience. Our Annual Report of Giving shines a light on the meaningful progress made during the 2023-2024 fiscal year, thanks to our extraordinary community.

Philanthropy opens doors for our students to reach their utmost potential and drive forward the excellence that defines the GSD. Thank you for investing in a new generation of forward-thinking architects, landscape architects, planners, design engineers, and real estate professionals who address global challenges with creativity and rigor. You are helping our students gain technical expertise and specialized skills to enhance quantity of life, advance sustainability, and address the pressing needs of communities around the world.

The stories in this report represent the tremendous impact of gifts made by over 740 donors. Together, you enlarge the scope of the questions we ask and the depth of work we undertake. We are inspired by your contributions and the sense of promise and possibility they embody.

With appreciation,
Alice Roebuck

Associate Dean, Development and Alumni Relations
Harvard Graduate School of Design

With Option Studios, Students Explore and Shape the Future of Design

To enable students to deeply engage with challenges related to infrastructure, the workforce, climate, and beyond, firsthand experience is invaluable. The GSD is grateful to have the backing of donors who understand the critical importance of option studios and the transformative experiences they offer.

Students gather at sewage field during studio trip

A New Era for Real Estate Education: The MRE Program and Its Innovative Approach

The Master in Real Estate program is changing the paradigm of education in adaptive reuse and real estate, thanks to extraordinary faculty, ambitious students, and generous donor support.

A Thirty-Seven-Year GSD Journey: John A. Mann II MUP ’01

Starting at the GSD when he was 37 years old, surrounded by many students just out of undergrad, gave John A. Mann II MUP ’01 a unique viewpoint on higher education. That perspective has informed how he now supports the school.

Empowering Futures: How Student Support Transforms the GSD Experience

Financial aid is a key priority at the GSD, and we’re fortunate to have many dedicated supporters. Discover how student support has enabled fellowship recipients to access a transformative design education.

United by Design: The Global Impact of the GSD Alumni Community

The vibrant GSD alumni network of over 15,000 members flourishes with opportunities to participate in events and share knowledge, foster personal connections, and support each other’s professional growth.

GSD alumni council standing in the trays

2022-2023 | Annual Impact of Giving

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Welcome alumni and friends! This Annual Impact of Giving report celebrates the generous support we received during the 2022-23 fiscal year. Our alumni and friends empower—and inspire—the school in countless ways. The stories that follow shine a light on our extraordinary community.

Because of you and others who share your enduring bond with the GSD, exciting possibilities have opened for the next generation of leaders. These leaders will, in turn, extend the school’s reputation and impact. We are grateful for your commitment and for your continued support.
Support from GSD alumni and friends provides the next generation of design leaders with the resources to succeed here at school and well into the future. Together, we strive to shepherd our world toward a resilient, just, and beautiful tomorrow.

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

Future Design Leaders Match Exceeds Fundraising Goal and Doubles Fellowship Impact

Celebrate the success of this urgent student support initiative to broaden the impact of a GSD education by attracting and enrolling a range of students who reflect the world they set out to shape, regardless of personal financial circumstances.

Student Voices: Community Service Fellows Discover Transformational Careers in Design

Read about GSD students’ summer work experiences in affordable housing, the arts, the environment, and community-based design projects. In their own words, students describe these mutually beneficial and transformational partnerships.

Inaugural Class of Master in Real Estate Students

Learn about a few exceptional MRE students who will shape the future of well-designed real estate.

Design as a Tool for Positive Change and Inclusivity

Stories We Should Tell features the work and voices of designers, storytellers, educators, and creators who shed light on issues affecting the African continent and emphasize the beauty often overlooked there. Read how the GSD’s Racial Equity and Anti-Racism Fund supported this work.

Profile: Anika Murasaki Richter MUP ’23

Recent Master in Urban Planning graduate Anika Murasaki Richter embraces opportunities at the GSD and across Harvard to design solutions for our changing climate.

A Celebration of Alumni Impact

A glimpse of GSD community professional updates, accolades, and accomplishments, including the 2023 GSD Alumni Award recipients (pictured on right).

In Memoriam

We take a moment to reflect on and mourn the loss of alumni, faculty, and friends who are no longer with us. With compassion, we remember and honor members of the GSD community.

2021-2022 | Annual Impact of Giving

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2021-2022 Highlights from the GSD

The academic year brought a return to campus for students, faculty, and staff to learn and work together once again. What follows are highlights from an unforgettable year.
Opening Academic Year Message from Dean Whiting

“With the GSD community together on campus again, we return to a world that needs thoughtful, caring designers more than ever,” begins Dean Whiting. She shares the many ways of responding directly to what is going on in the world through the GSD’s robust academic programs, events, and activities.

Read the letter
Rachel Meltzer Joins as Inaugural Plimpton Associate Professor of Planning and Urban Economics

This role was established in 2019 and made possible by a generous gift from Samuel Plimpton MBA ’77, MArch ’80, and his wife, Wendy Shattuck.

View the announcement
Winter Greetings from GSD Development & Alumni Relations

The holiday card was designed by T.K. Justin Ng MArch ’23. The watercolor illustration celebrates the delight of the winter season and the return to Gund Hall after a year of remote learning and teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Gary R. Hilderbrand MLA ’85 Appointed Chair, Department of Landscape Architecture

Hilderbrand, Peter Louis Hornbeck Professor in Practice, has taught in the Department of Landscape Architecture since 1990, and is Founding Principal and Partner of Reed Hilderbrand. He succeeds Anita Berrizbeitia MLA ’87, Professor of Landscape Architecture. Appointed in 2015, Berrizbeitia was the 14th chair of the oldest landscape architecture department in the world, and only the second woman to hold the position.

View announcement
Town Hall: Student Voices / New Perspectives, New Possibilities

Alumni and Friends attended the second annual Town Hall event with Sarah M. Whiting, Dean and Josep Lluís Sert Professor of Architecture. It featured a panel discussion and Q&A with five student leaders, giving guests an opportunity to learn and ask about their experiences at the GSD and thoughts on the future.

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The Minmin Zeng Innovative Doctoral Student Research Fund

Providing meaningful support for doctoral students, the Minmin Zeng Innovative Doctoral Student Research Fund will fund groundbreaking research by PhD and DDes students. The fund was created thanks to the generosity of Minmin Zeng MUP ’04 and will enable the GSD to attract students who will help lead the design and education fields for generations to come.
Early Design Education Programs: An Interview with Megan Panzano MArch ’10

Last June, Megan Panzano MArch ’10 was named senior director of Early Design Education to lead these programs in refreshed formats into the future. Hear about her plans for the EDE programs that include breaking down access barriers to design education, engaging diverse perspectives on what should drive design, and building a robust support system for students and those new to teaching design.

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Updates from the GSD Alumni Council

Read news from the Alumni Council, including student Unsung Hero Award winners, Alumni Council Award winners, and Design Impact events, via the Council’s refreshed digital presence.

Visit the Alumni Council Webpage
Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery

Dean Whiting wrote to the GSD community to urge everyone to read the Report and Recommendations of the Presidential Committee on Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery. She wrote: “As designers, planners, historians, theorists, teachers, and citizens, it is critically important to learn about and know this part of our university’s history.”

Read the letter
Commencement for the Classes of 2020, 2021, and 2022

The GSD celebrated the Class of 2022 with Class Day and Commencement. Plus, the school hosted a Special Commencement Ceremony for the Classes of 2020 and 2021, which honored the resilient recent graduates who experienced one-of-a-kind virtual graduation ceremonies but were unable to participate in traditional, on-campus Harvard University Commencement exercises due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Design Now: A Quarterly Podcast from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design

In each episode faculty, researchers, alumni, and students engage in dialogue on a single topic of global significance. Episodes on the climate crisis, social justice, public health, housing, technology, urbanization, and transportation present new research on design thinking and practice, and illuminate the many, sometimes unexpected, ways in which design is engaged in questions of global politics, culture, and society.

Look at the episodes
Publication Highlights

Publications released by the GSD in the past year include Harvard Design Magazine, Paris, GSD A-Z, New Geographies, and more.

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Momentum Building to Support the Next Generation of Design Leaders

Alumni and friends are stepping up to make design education accessible with the Future Design Leaders Match. This urgent student support initiative will significantly impact generations of future designers, the industry, and the alumni community by establishing endowed, named fellowships.

A Strong Foundation for Housing Policy

A gift from Nicolas P. Retsinas MCP ’71 and Joan B. Retsinas is paving the way to endow the position of Director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies and Senior Lecturer at the GSD, strengthening ties between the Center, the GSD, and across Harvard.

Images of Nic and Joan Retsinas and Chris Herbert

A GSD Trio Integrates their Voices into the Story of Design History

The GSD’s Frances Loeb Library is honored to be receiving the archives of not one, but three beloved and influential GSD professors: Alex Krieger MCU ’77; Jerold Kayden AB ’75, JD ’79, MCRP ’79; and Antoine Picon AM ’01.

Training Future Practitioners in the New World of Real Estate

The GSD’s new Master in Real Estate degree explores how to address the complex and urgent challenges facing the built environment.

Honoring Our Students

Thanks to generous support from our community, the GSD has been able to recognize exceptional scholarly achievement, leadership, and service by future design leaders throughout the school.

Alumni Updates and In Memoriam

We say often that the GSD is a collective that is anything but compact. Here are stories of the impact of our alumni around the world over the last academic year, along with reflections on alumni, faculty, and friends of the school who are no longer with us.

Take a quick look at the Graduate School of Design in 2021-2022 from a bird’s eye view.

2020-2021 | Giving Report

Innovation. Flexibility. Adaptiveness. Those three words became our keystones for 2021. I am grateful for how your generosity sprang those words to life this year at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Peggy Burns Associate Dean, Development & Alumni Relations

An Update from Peggy Burns, Associate Dean, Development & Alumni Relations

It is a true pleasure to share stories of inventiveness, of resilience, of belief in the power of design innovation in the 2020-2021 GSD Giving Report.

Read the letter

2020-2021 Highlights from the GSD

The 2020-2021 academic year was about flexibility and adapting to change. Thanks in part to virtual events, connections, and innovations, we were here for each other and encouraged the next generation of design leaders. What follows are highlights from the unforgettable year.
Student Emergency Fund

With the launch of the Student Emergency Fund in spring 2020, the GSD took swift action to present comfort, care, and opportunity amid the fear, emergencies, and job losses of COVID-19. During the 2020-2021 academic year, 415 students received emergency aid to assist with the loss of income or loss of family support due to the pandemic’s effects on the economy, as well as work-from-home support for tech or other costs incurred due to remote education.

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A gallery turned “Inside Out”

The GSD turned the Druker Design Gallery, established by Ron Druker LF ’76, and other spaces within Gund Hall inside out with installations shown through a series of exterior projections on the building’s facade. The series, aptly entitled “Inside Out,” spanned the spring semester and rotated through a weekly roster of shows that revealed timely preoccupations among GSD faculty and students.

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The GSD’s new (virtual) front door

During a year when many of our activities moved online, the GSD refreshed and relaunched the GSD’s Alumni and Friends website. The site enhanced how alumni and friends can listen, learn, and engage with the GSD. Community members can visit the site to engage with the Development & Alumni Relations team, meet members of the various volunteer councils, join virtual events, and much more.

Visit the website
Welcoming the Alumni Council’s newest members

The GSD’s Alumni Council is the primary representative body of GSD alumni. We were thrilled to welcome the following new members to the council during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Visit the Alumni Council webpage
Jennifer Esposito

MArch ’12

Hazel Edwards

MAUD ’89

Christina Harris

MLA ’11

Stacey Pennington

MUP ’05

Adriana Rojas

MAUD ’01

Mari Balestrazzi

MArch ’97

Judith Heintz

MLA ’78

Euneika Rogers-Sipp

LF ’16
2021 Inaugural GSD Alumni Award Winners

Founded by the GSD Alumni Council, the Harvard Graduate School of Design Alumni Award honors outstanding leadership by GSD alumni, underscoring the essential role that GSD graduates play in leading change around the world. The award recognizes and celebrates the diversity, range, and impact of GSD alumni within their communities and across their areas of practice. In March, the Alumni Council proudly announced the inaugural award recipients:

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Jack Dangermond MLA ’69

Everett Fly MLA ’77

Deanna Van Buren LF ’13
Honoring the legacy of an urban design pioneer

The GSD renamed the 50th Anniversary of Urban Design Program Lecture for Jaqueline Tyrwhitt, a GSD associate professor who worked to establish and fortify the urban design program during its founding years. The Jaqueline Tyrwhitt Urban Design Lecture will be delivered each year by a visionary urban planner, designer, scholar, or leader who has opened novel directions in urban-design thinking and traced new intersections between urban design and other disciplines. Moshe Safdie, Lee Cott MAUD ’70, and Jay Chatterjee MAUD ’65 played a key role in establishing the original lecture in 2010 and fortifying its energy since.
Proclaiming the praises of Unsung Heroes

The Unsung Hero Book Prize celebrates GSD students who act in selfless ways to make the School a better place. The four 2021 Unsung Heroes were recognized for being instrumental in creating community during a year of virtual instruction, building connection and engagement however possible. These women also worked tirelessly to elevate the perspectives of women and BIPOC in design, and they showed leadership in their many roles, including teaching assistant, resident adviser, and student government representative.

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Bailey Morgan Brown MArch ’22, MDes ’22

Heidi Brandow MDes ’21

Mary Taylor MUP ’21

Kathlyn Kao MArch ’22
Rising to the challenge

Solving global challenges through design is at the heart of all the GSD’s work. To make a positive impact in the lives of students and the larger design community, the GSD committed this year to funding the following initiatives:

The African American Design Nexus

An initiative to promote the presence of African Americans in design and address representation gaps in the industry. The Nexus showcases the craft of Black designers, explores different geographies of design practice, and works to inspire change within design institutions by elevating Black designers.

The Option Studio

The most crucial and esteemed course that design students undergo at the GSD. The Regional Studio Fund fosters growth and design education for students, while at the same time supporting a design solution for a community.

The Laboratory for Design Technologies

A collaborative platform that investigates the challenges and opportunities at the intersection of design technology and the built environment. It advances design as a catalyst of change and leverages innovative research methods to understand the architecture of complex issues.
The Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging’s Annual Report

Committed to addressing systemic racism and inequity at the GSD, the Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DIB) implemented programming and initiatives to:
• Promote anti-racist practices
• Expand recruitment and retention strategies of historically marginalized individuals
• Deepen internal DIB competencies as part of a holistic approach to institutional transformation

The 2020-2021 DIB Annual Report was created to serve as a step toward building a shared understanding of the progress, partnerships, and initiatives of the Office.

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An iconic tour of Boston

For his Urban Design 50th Anniversary Lecture, Alex Krieger MCP ’77, professor and former chair of the Department of Urban Planning and Design, took viewers on a virtual version of his tour of Boston. Stopping at locations key to the growth of the city—from East Boston, which was once five islands that were consolidated in the late 18th to 19th century, to the Shawmut and South Boston Peninsulas—Krieger spoke of the historic and contemporary geographical, infrastructural, and racial conditions of Boston, a city in “constant need to create land.”

Watch the Video
A virtual celebration of our newest alumni

On May 27, 2021, the GSD gathered virtually to honor the 298 members of the class of 2021 and confer their hard-earned degrees. The GSD remains committed to holding in-person events for our 2020 and 2021 graduates in the future.

Watch the video

Take a quick look at the Graduate School of Design in 2020-2021 from a bird’s eye view.

Photo by Jovi Ripert, courtesy of Elizabeth Price MDE ’21.

Giving Back and Building Community

GSD fellowship and financial aid recipients are making their unique, vibrant, and outstanding marks on the school and the world of design, thanks to the generosity of the larger GSD community.

In Inaugural Cycle, REA Fund Supports Diverse Projects United by Pursuit of Equity and Anti-Racism

The inaugural Racial Equity and Anti-Racism Fund projects, ranging from the individual to the institutional, have come to fruition in recent months, illustrating the diversity and depth of inquiry the fund has supported.

Buckminster Fuller’s Legacy Honored at Harvard GSD with New Chair

The R. Buckminster Fuller Professorship of Design Science will be awarded to an eminent scholar working to advance innovation in design and promote a sustainable future.

Amy C. Edmondson with colleages and Fuller in front of geodesic dome

Visit the GSD Through Virtual Gund Hall

The GSD’s Fabrication Lab brought Gund Hall to the 3D virtual world, with Virtual Gund Hall, an experience created using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, a real-time 3D tool used to create cutting-edge content, immersive virtual worlds, and immersive experiences.

See Gund Hall

Building a Future at Harvard: The Henry B. Hoover Fellowship

The children of Henry B. Hoover MArch ’26, pioneer of New England modernist architecture, established the Henry B. Hoover Fellowship at the GSD and generously give additional gifts in order for their father’s legacy to live on at the GSD.

Resilient, Lively, Innovative: A New Option Studio at London’s Regent Quarter

Thanks to a generous gift from Nan Fung Development Group and Managing Director Vanessa Cheung MLA ’10, GSD students will have a chance to study the Regent Quarter of London, an area brimming with dynamism and opportunities for exploration in one of the world’s oldest cities.

In Memoriam and Tribute Gifts

At the GSD, we carry with us the memory of the alumni, faculty, and friends of the school who died during the 2020-2021 academic year. Each of them made an imprint on the world of design and on our hearts. For that, we are eternally grateful.

Reflect with Us

Photo of Cornelia Hahn Oberlander BLA ’47 in a small group

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2019-2020 | Giving Report

Thank you for making it possible for the GSD to continue its invaluable education and mission to build a more sustainable, equitable, and beautiful world.

Peggy Burns Associate Dean for Development & Alumni Relations

New Priorities – A Letter

Peggy Burns, the new Associate Dean and the Office of Development and Alumni Relations, say thank you while reflecting on this special COVID-19 + Racial Equity’s edition of the GSD’s Annual Giving Report.

Read the Letter

Hello. It’s Us.

Take a quick look at The Graduate School of Design in 2020 from a bird’s eye view.

Making a Difference in the Lives of Refugees

Watch a video message created by two GSD students, Nadyeli Quiroz MDes ’20, MLA ’20 and John Wagner MArch ’19, who are using their design education to make a difference in the lives of refugees.

The GSD Fund Makes an Impact

In March, before COVID-19 swept the nation, the Office of Development and Alumni Relations connected with four GSD students. They shared meaningful experiences, which were made possible by the generosity of alumni and friends who supported the GSD Fund. Hear directly from them.

Reframing Uncertainty with the Launch of SEF

The GSD community came together during COVID-19 for the new Student Emergency Fund which helped to support 100% of students who applied for emergency need funding and unemployment funding through summer research grants.

A Pragmatic Innovation Strategy

Learn about the important work by this year’s Irving Fellows who are affiliated with the Innovation Task Force, formed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic to research and develop new innovations in virtual design pedagogy.

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A Step Toward a More Equitable and Just GSD

The GSD established the Racial Equity and Anti-Racism Fund in July 2020 to raise awareness of how race, racism, and racial injustice affect society (with a focus on the design fields), promoting a culture of anti-racism at the GSD.

Learn More about REA Fund

Alumni Council Pens Statement on Black Lives Matter

“As GSD Alumni, we have privilege and we have power. The time to use that power is now. Let us show, through our actions, that Black Lives Matter.”

Read the Statement

A Virtual Store for Racial Inequality

Launched on July 1, this independent, student-led event sold off creative works by designers to raise funds for two organizations fighting against systemic, anti-Black racism.

Learn More

In Memory Of

At the GSD, we carry with us the memory of the alumni, faculty, and friends of the school who died in 2020. Each of them made an imprint on the world of design and on our hearts. For that, we are eternally grateful.

Reflect with us

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With Option Studios, Students Explore and Shape the Future of Design

With Option Studios, Students Explore and Shape the Future of Design

A New Era for Real Estate Education: The MRE Program and Its Innovative Approach

A New Era for Real Estate Education: The MRE Program and Its Innovative Approach

A Thirty-Seven-Year GSD Journey: John A. Mann II MUP ’01

A Thirty-Seven-Year GSD Journey: John A. Mann II MUP ’01

Empowering Futures: How Student Support Transforms the GSD Experience

Empowering Futures: How Student Support Transforms the GSD Experience

United by Design: The Global Impact of the GSD Alumni Community

United by Design: The Global Impact of the GSD Alumni Community

Future Design Leaders Match Exceeds Fundraising Goal and Doubles Fellowship Impact

Future Design Leaders Match Exceeds Fundraising Goal and Doubles Fellowship Impact

Student Voices: Community Service Fellows Discover Transformational Careers in Design

Student Voices: Community Service Fellows Discover Transformational Careers in Design

Inaugural Class of Master in Real Estate Students

Inaugural Class of Master in Real Estate Students

Design as a Tool for Positive Change and Inclusivity