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The Daily Hub

A roundup of ideas and projects from around the Institute

  • Sofi Thanhauser, adjunct associate professor – CCE, was awarded a 2025 Whiting Award for Nonfiction. The Whiting Committee wrote that Thanhauser displays a “uniquely elegant intelligence…[Her] curiosity is a gift to the reader; her sentences are as layered as her investigations, which look with a devoted intensity at the objects around us that might otherwise escape our attention.”

  • Victoria Forbes, BFA Art and Design Education ’24, has been granted the honor of being the Graduate Speaker for Pratt’s class of 2025 Commencement. She will be acknowledged for this achievement at the Student Affairs Leadership Awards.

  • Graciela Carrillo, MS Urban Environmental Systems Management ’07, has been elevated to the prestigious College of Fellows by the American Institute of Architects (AIA). This honor recognizes their exceptional contributions to architecture and society. The AIA Fellowship is awarded to architects who have achieved the highest standards of excellence in the profession. 

  • Rodney Leon, BArch ’92, reflected on the 10th anniversary of the unveiling of the Ark of Return, a permanent memorial designed by Leon that honors the victims of the Transatlantic Slave Trade at the United Nations. “The memorialization of public space allows often complex and contradictory needs to coexist simultaneously. It must provide space for individual reflection and contemplation of often tragic histories, and at the same time provide a place for collective gathering and celebration.”

  • A new short documentary about Edel Rodriguez, BFA Fine Arts (Painting) ’94, is featured in PRINT magazine. Freedom is a Verb, by filmmakers Mecky Creus and Adrienne Hall, “focuses on Rodriguez’s bestselling visual memoir of young life in—and treacherous escape from—Castro’s Cuba.”

  • Nia Starr, MS Sustainable Environmental Systems ’24, turned their graduate thesis on equitable electrification into a real-world project for Diversity Coalition SLO County.

More Pratt Institute News

A person with a beard and glasses stands next to a display table featuring electronic components. The table has a transparent device with lights, various wires, and wooden pieces arranged on it. The background is a plain white wall, and there is printed information on the table. The individual is wearing a navy blue polo shirt.

Biocircuits Wins 2025 Material Lab Prize

The winner of the 6th annual prize tackled the growing problem of e-waste.
Two women are discussing a map or document while seated at a table. One woman is pointing to the document, while the other woman is smiling and looking at it. Both are wearing light-colored shirts, and there are additional people and computer screens visible in the background. The setting appears to be an office or training environment.

Fashioning New Pathways for Incarcerated Women

From Pratt Institute News

The innovative program launched by Pratt Institute and the New Jersey Department of Corrections expands access to creative disciplines and workforce development.
A group of people gathers for a ceremonial signing event in a modern indoor space. In the foreground, a woman with short white hair, dressed in a dark outfit, is signing a large poster on a table. Surrounding her are four men in suits and a woman in a blue dress, observing the signing. Some attendees in the background are seated, with a few wearing blue hard hats.

Building ‘Cradle-Through-Career’ Pathways in Newark

From Pratt Institute News

A new public high school in Newark, New Jersey, is opening pathways to careers in the building industry with academic guidance from Pratt faculty.