Pratt Institute will honor five distinguished alumni on February 25, 2011 at a private luncheon at The Modern. Award recipients include David Easton, renowned interior designer; Juliana Terian Gilbert, chairman of The Rallye Automotive Group and Pratt trustee; Seokwon Andy Kim and Wonjeong Debbie Yoon, fashion designers; and Joseph Mizzi, president of Sciame Construction.
Pratt Institute annually honors several distinguished alumni for their exceptional achievements since graduation from Pratt. The success of these alumni pays tribute to the Institute’s prestigious faculty and to the legacy of its founder Charles Pratt, who coined the Institute’s motto: “Be true to your work, and your work will be true to you.”
From left to right: 2011 Alumni Achievement Award honorees David Easton, Juliana Terian Gilbert, Seokwon Andy Kim and Wonjeong Debbie Yoon, and Joseph Mizzi
Photo credits from left to right: Michael Weschler, John Firman, Dan Lecca, and Albert Cheung
David Easton, a 1963 graduate of Pratt’s School of Architecture,is considered one of the world’s most sought-after interior designers. He founded his own firm in 1972 after working for designer Edward Wormley and Parish-Hadley and is recognized for his classically inspired, traditional interiors. He was named to the Interior Design Hall of Fame in 1992, and has twice been presented with Classical America’s Arthur Ross Award. Most recently his peers honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award at London’s Design and Decoration Awards. Architectural Digest has included Easton in their Top 100 Designers in the World, a record nine times. At Pratt he studied with Sibyl Moholy-Nagy, the widow of one of the founders of the Bauhaus.
Juliana Terian Gilbert, a 1990 graduate of Pratt’s School of Architecture and Pratt trustee, is chairman of The Rallye Automotive Group, based in Roslyn, N.Y., and composed of Rallye Mercedes-Benz, Rallye BMW, Rallye Lexus, Rallye Acura, and the Smart Center of Roslyn. Under her leadership Rallye has become New York’s highest grossing woman-owned business and the country’s largest woman-owned business. In 2008, she also co-founded Nouvelle View, a company that specializes in luxury moving and planning, based in New York City. Gilbert believes strongly in philanthropy and has initiated a mentoring and internship program at Rallye with local high schools and universities. She also started the Peter Terian Fine Arts Scholarship Awards to honor her late husband, the founder of Rallye, which is held yearly and provides 10 scholarships to high school seniors to pursue art degrees at the college level.
Seokwon Andy Kim and Wonjeong Debbie Yoon, who received their bachelor of fine arts degrees from Pratt in 1997 and 1994, respectively, are award-winning fashion designers who launched their own eponymous label ANDY & DEBB in Seoul, Korea, in 1999. The couple met as classmates in Korea, and their friendship blossomed into romance while they were students at Pratt. Espoused business partners, they gained renown for designing the uniforms of McDonald’s employees in Korea. Two years ago, they moved their fashion design collection to New York and launched a menswear collection. Kim serves as a judge for Project Runway Korea, which has brought their brand to a new level of popularity.
Joseph Mizzi, who received a construction management degree in 1991, is president of Sciame Construction. He began his career in the New York City construction industry more than 20 years ago and in 1995 joined Sciame, where he has overseen important projects such as the expansion of the Morgan Library & Museum and the exterior restoration of the Guggenheim Museum. Mizzi serves on the boards of the Architectural League of New York, the New York Building Foundation, the Architecture and Design Film Festival, and as treasurer of the Salvadori Center. He also serves as co-chair of the economic development committee of the New York Building Congress and is a member of the program advisory committee to Pratt’s Construction Management program.