Running For: Alumni Trustee
Campaign Statement
As an alumni of Cooper Union, I am intimately familiar with the school’s mission having lived and breathed it. I was fortunate enough to be one of the countless students who received a full scholarship for my time here, back when Peter Cooper’s mission was still being honored and all students received an education that was “Free as Air and Water.”
I immigrated to the United States as a young child and I absolutely could not have gotten to where I am today if not for this historic institution. I was pushed and challenged while studying here, but also forged lifelong friendships. At the time I was one of the few women of color to ever have received an architecture degree from Cooper. I feel a sense of pride from having attended a school where Suffragettes fought for equal rights and where the student bodies are getting even more diverse year after year. Peter Cooper’s original mission must be restored for future generations to be afforded the same opportunities students like me were given. This would be my primary focus as a Trustee. My classmates Michael Samuelian, Anik Pearson and I set up The Gussow Fund a few years ago to benefit the architecture school. So far the fund had obtained more than $130,000 in endowment. I am willing and eager to help with fundraising such as this, and will make every effort I can to help Cooper Union reclaim its place as the heralded haven for art, architecture and engineering it once was
Biography
Elizabeth Graziolo joined Peter Pennoyer Architects in 1998 and has been a partner at the firm since 2005. At PPA, she has directed a range of projects, both in the United States and abroad, including private houses and residential developments. Her work at PPA has been widely published in newspapers, books, and periodicals, including The Wall Street Journal, Architectural Digest, Elle Decor, and A Field Guide to American Architecture.
Elizabeth is a member of the board of trustees of The Museum of the City of New York, a President’s Council member of the Institute of Classical architecture and Art, and serves on the Delano & Aldrich/Emerson Fellowship of the American Institute of Architects. She has presented at international conferences for L’ARDEPA, an architecture and educational organization based in France and is a guest speaker for the senior professional practice class at The Cooper Union in New York.
In 2018, Elizabeth was honored with the Museum of the City of New York’s “City of Design Award” which recognizes those who have made New York the design capital of the world and who inspire future generations of designers to bring their talents to the city. Elizabeth received her Bachelor of Architecture from The Cooper Union. She is a registered architect in the State of New York and a member of the American Institute of Architects
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