inspire the giving newslet ter of prat t institu te
Spring 2014
Alumnus Young Woo Creates Scholarship honoring father Gift Will Put Undergraduates on Path to Success
Photo: Peter Tannenbaum
Young Woo (B. Arch. ’79) has established a reputation as one of the most innovative and enterprising real-estate developers of our time. As founder and principal of Youngwoo & Associates, his projects include the Sky Garage condos, the Chelsea Arts Tower, and the current transformation of Pier 57 into an emotional retail, culinary, and cultural hub. A native of Korea, Woo credits his Pratt education with instilling in him the creativity that has helped make him the success he is today. “In my business, all of our projects focus on bold thinking,” he says. “At Pratt, our instructors constantly challenged us to create something different. I use what I learned then all the time.”
Young Woo (B. Arch. ’79)
To ensure that other talented young men and women have the opportunity to follow in his footsteps, Woo established the Jae Kwan Woo Scholarship to provide much-needed financial assistance to undergraduates across Pratt Institute. The award, named in honor of Woo’s late father, will also encourage students to persevere—a lesson that Jae Kwan Woo consistently demonstrated, particularly throughout his 20-year quest to immigrate to the United States, which took him from
Seoul, Korea, to Paraguay and Argentina, before he arrived in North America. In addition to honoring his father’s memory with a scholarship, Woo, who served as a Pratt Trustee from 2006 to 2012, has made contributions to dedicate spaces in the Pratt School of Architecture’s Higgins Hall for mentors who have helped and influenced him. In 2008, he created the Na Ok Woo Conference Room in honor of his late sister. Two years earlier, he established the Choong Seun Oh Classroom in memory of the good friend whose generosity in the early 1990s turned Woo’s business around. “He called one day and said he’d dreamt that I needed help, and he gave me two blank checks. I didn’t ask for or expect it.” Inscribed with the words “Dream Big,” the plaque on the Choong Seun Oh Classroom even inspired a recent Pratt architecture graduate and his family to establish the Dream Big Scholarship to help future architecture students realize their own professional dreams. “I am delighted to have set an example for others,” says Woo. “I hope my most recent gift will prove equally inspiring—both to the students who receive the award and to my fellow alumni who owe so much to their Pratt education.”
Thomas F. and Tess L. Schutte Endowed Scholarship Established at Legends 2013
Gala Proceeds to Support Fund Honoring President’s 20 Years at Pratt
While announcing the scholarship via a videotaped message, Pratt alumnus and Trustee Emeritus Bruce Newman (B.F.A. ’53) said, “When I think of Tom Schutte, I think of three words: energy, passion, and dedication. No one has more energy than Tom; no one has more passion for Pratt than Tom; and no one is more dedicated to Pratt than Tom.” The tribute to Schutte included a slide show highlighting some of his most notable achievements over the past two decades, including expanding campus housing to complete the Institute’s transition from a commuter school to a residential college that attracts students from around the world; strengthening the faculty and academic programs,
which has led to a six-fold increase in the number of freshman applications; beautifying and enhancing the Brooklyn campus’s grounds and facilities to earn Pratt a place on Architectural Digest’s list of the top 10 colleges nationwide with the best architecture; growing the endowment from $13 million to more than $120 million; and leading the revitalization of the neighborhood surrounding Pratt, including transforming Myrtle Avenue into a thriving commercial district that serves local residents and business people as well as the Institute community. Under Schutte’s leadership, Pratt has also increased the amount of scholarship and financial aid awarded annually to Pratt students from $6.9 million to nearly $38 million. Building on these achievements, the Thomas F. and Tess L. Schutte Endowed Scholarship Fund will provide vital financial assistance to students across the Institute’s schools. In addition to providing essential support to the most promising, talented, and dedicated students, the awards will be a tremendous source of encouragement and inspiration to the students who receive them.
Photo: Matthew Septimus
Pratt alumni, faculty, and friends celebrated the 20th anniversary of Dr. Thomas F. Schutte’s presidency of the Institute at the 2013 Legends gala following the surprise announcement of a new student scholarship fund in his and his wife’s names. The Thomas F. and Tess L. Schutte Endowed Scholarship Fund was launched with the proceeds from the event, which totaled nearly $800,000.
To make a gift in support of the Thomas F. and Tess L. Schutte Endowed Scholarship Fund, visit www.pratt. edu/schuttescholarship or contact Emily Moqtaderi, Executive Director of Campaign and Major Gifts, at 718.230.6852.