Faculty Director, UAC
Faculty Director, UAC
Hometown: I was born and grew up in northwest Ohio. Toledo was my home until I went away to attend MIT and then I never left the east coast. After graduate school I lived in New York City, where my children were born, before I joined the MIT faculty in 1999.
What did you study in undergrad? I graduated MIT class of 1985. Lived in East Campus, 3rd east before getting an apartment with friends. I majored course 1 until my senior year when I switched to course 4 architecture because by then I had realized I was really interested in architectural design, alongside engineering. This has been the story of my professional and academic career: design + engineering, art + science.
Grad school? From MIT I went straight to Princeton University for a Master of Architecture. At that time, MIT and Princeton were the outer edges of the spectrum of architectural thinking. So, the contrast between them was extreme, which I loved and benefited from. After Princeton, I lived the dream of being a young architect in New York City.
What was your favorite experience as an undergrad? There are so many! And yet, I have to say that hanging out with my friends, getting ice cream at Toscanini’s, crossing over to Boston for a Red Sox game, and of course doing p-sets and getting through the semester together was the highlight. MIT was and is hard – friends make it all possible.
What are your interests/hobbies? I’m a pianist, classical repertoire (currently playing a lot of Scarlatti) and had I not been an architect I would have been a musician. I love to learn pieces of music by reading the score and understanding the architecture of the composition before I put my hands on the keyboard. Playing a musical instrument is a very physical thing and it demands real technical rigor. I have also painted my whole life, watercolors and oil.
What is your favorite thing about MIT? How everyone is so interested and dedicated to important things – whether in research, or service, or a startup, or the arts and design. It’s a place that compels you to think big, without restraint and without pause. If you have a good idea, and can figure out how to make it happen, then go for it. If not at MIT, then where?
What advice do you have for MIT students? Do lots of things, explore many topics and fields, learn things you didn’t think you would want to learn. But above all, take your time, don’t be rushed about things, enjoy the journey. Taking advantage of all you want to do at MIT is best done with a calm and focused mindset.
Fun fact? I learned how to snowboard when I was in my late 40s – and love it! Keeping up with my children was the motivation, but the risk was asymmetrical – they bounced when they fell, I did not.