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$1.25 Million Gift from Lori Kanter Tritsch to School of Design for Student Prize and Professional Medal

caption:Lori Kanter Tritsch

University of Pennsylvania School of Design alumna Lori Kanter Tritsch, MArch’85, has pledged $1.25 million to establish a $50,000 fellowship for the most promising graduate architecture student at PennDesign and an international medal of excellence for a practicing architect. It is the largest single gift made to the School for fellowships in its 149-year history.

“PennDesign has been home to so many visionary architects,” said Ms. Kanter Tritsch. “We want to celebrate today’s visionaries and encourage the next generation to follow their lead.”

Ms. Kanter Tritsch has served on the PennDesign Board of Overseers since 2015. She made the pledge with her partner and fellow alum William P. Lauder, W’83, who holds a bachelor of science in economics from the Wharton School and is a Penn Trustee.

The Kanter Tritsch Prize in Energy and Architectural Innovation will be awarded annually beginning in the fall of 2018 to a second-year student pursuing a Master of Architecture degree at PennDesign who demonstrates transformational thinking on the built environment and innovation in his or her approach to energy, ecology and/or social equity.

“The complex issues of today’s world call on designers to be more forward-thinking than ever before,” said Penn President Amy Gutmann. “We appreciate how Lori and William have embraced Penn’s culture and practice of innovation with the creation of this prize for graduate students at PennDesign who look at the world differently and are creative and collaborative in their approaches to addressing the built environment.”

“Architects have a critical role to play in responding to climate change and increasing equity in our societies,” said PennDesign Dean and Paley Professor Frederick Steiner. “We are tremendously grateful to Lori and William for their ongoing support.”

In addition, the Kanter Tritsch Medal for Excellence in Architecture and Environmental Design will be awarded annually beginning in the fall of 2018 to an under-recognized architect who has changed the course of design history, with a particular focus on the areas of energy conservation, environmental quality and/or diversity. Standing PennDesign faculty will not be eligible.

“The architecture profession can be slow to recognize young talent,” said Winka Dubbeldam, chair and Miller Professor in the department of architecture at PennDesign. “At the same time, many established architects never receive the public recognition they deserve.”

Led by Professor Dubbeldam, the juries will be announced this fall, and the recipients will be recognized at a public ceremony next fall.

Ms. Kanter Tritsch completed her master of architecture at Penn in 1985, having earned a bachelor of science in architecture at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1983. She began her career at Eli Attia Architects, New York, focusing primarily on the design of high rises. In 1987, she joined Miller Construction Company in Jersey City, New Jersey, to work on commercial and industrial design projects. Currently she works in New York City designing commercial interiors and undertakes private commissions, largely in high-end residential development. 

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