Notable at NYSID: Summer 2026
Institutional News
Anthony Samaha Is Appointed Director of NYSID’s MPSM
Anthony Samaha, LEED GA, digital practice manager and associate at Perkins&Will in New York, and an award-winning design technologist, was appointed director of the New York School of Interior Design’s unique Master of Professional Studies in Digital Practice Management (MPSM) in January 2026. NYSID’s one-year, post-professional MPSM is the only MPS program of its kind in the country. “No matter where you are in your career trajectory, this program will prepare you to lead your company’s design technology practice, a practical and managerial skill set that speeds advancement and brings higher compensation,” says Samaha. Admissions are rolling for Fall 2026.
Tama Duffy Day Becomes the Director of NYSID’s MPSH
In July 2025, Tama Duffy Day, a leader in healthcare design, took the helm of NYSID’s rare, one-year Master of Professional Studies in Design of Healthcare Environments (MPSH) program. Day has been an advisor to the program since its inception in 2012, and was involved in the development of the program’s original curriculum. Previously, she headed the Healthcare and Senior Living practices at global architectural and design firms Gensler and Perkins&Will, where she developed healthcare facilities and intergenerational communities worldwide. Under her auspices, the MPSH program is attracting new faculty, including Dawne David-Pierre, associate principal, Perkins&Will; Latoya Nelson Kamdang, associate principal, Ennead Architects; and Elizabeth Sullivan, regional co-leader of healthcare (Northeast), HOK.
Amy Westpfahl Joins NYSID as Director of Admissions
Amy Westpfahl joined the NYSID community as director of admissions in March. She comes to NYSID after 26 years in admissions at The Cooper Union, where she served as a director of admissions for The Cooper Union’s art and architecture programs. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she helped the office pivot, leading the transition to a paperless admissions system, by working with IT to implement Slate, the new admissions customer relationship management (CRM) software for the College’s recruitment and admissions processes. Westpfahl is dedicated to recruiting young individuals from underserved communities into the arts. She also volunteers in multiple capacities at ABC No Rio, a nonprofit community-based arts organization. She understands what young creatives seek in an education and career path because she is a practicing artist. She holds an MFA in Combined Media from Hunter College and a BFA from The Cooper Union.
Exhibitions and Public Programs
Sketching the Surface
From September 26 to April 4, Sketching the Surface: Exploring the New York School of Interior Design Archives and Contemporary Pattern Design appeared in the NYSID Gallery. The exhibit explored the legacy of 20th-century pattern designs from the NYSID Archives—fabric, rugs, carpets, wall coverings, and tiles—created by Inez Croom, Joseph Grusczak, Joe Martin, and Joann Nelsen. The exhibit was curated by Arpie Gennetian, Andrea Lacalamita, and Anne Regan of StudioExhibit.A, with design and management by Poleshuck Design Inc. The exhibition sponsors were Kravet Inc. and Benjamin Moore. Artist Dan Funderburgh led a hands-on pattern-making workshop, and artist Andrew Raftery gave a block-printing lesson, in connection with the exhibition.
2026 Arthur King Satz Lecture: Michael Simon on “Composed Interiors”
On Wednesday, February 4, interior designer Michael Simon presented the 2026 Arthur King Satz Lecture, “Composed Interiors: What Music Teaches Us About Design.”
Dialogues on Design 2025-26
Dennis Scully, host of the “Business of Home” podcast, is the curator and host of NYSID’s Dialogues on Design, an annual series of intimate conversations with prominent interior designers. All of the proceeds go to NYSID Scholarships, and NYSID students attend these lectures for free, thanks to the series’ supporters. In the 2025-26 academic year, Scully hosted Corey Damen Jenkins on October 30, Andre Mellone on December 4, Nicole Hollis on December 11, John and Christine Gachot on January 29, Ken Fulk on March 26, and Amber Lewis on April 2. Says Scully of the series, “Raising money for scholarships and exposing students to the leaders of this profession gives me great purpose. When students look back at their time at the school, I want them to remember the careers we celebrate are extraordinary, but also within their reach.”
2026 Michael I. and Patricia M. Sovern Lecture on Design: Marion Weiss & Michael Manfredi
On April 29, Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi, principals of the award-winning firm WEISS/MANFREDI, whose past projects include the Olympic Sculpture Park at the Seattle Art Museum, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Visitor Center, and Hunter’s Point South Waterfront Park, gave a lecture titled Drifting Symmetries: Projects, Provocations, and Other Enduring Models, also the title of the duo’s new book. In an era when the dual challenges of climate change and social isolation loom large, the lecture explored architecture’s role in shaping a sustainable and connected future.
Alexa Hampton Opens Her Home to Alumni
Special thanks are due to NYSID Trustee Alexa Hampton, who invited alumni to join an exclusive tour of her home on October 6. All proceeds went toward NYSID’s Alumni Scholarship Fund.
Student Accomplishments & Industry Engagement
Service-Learning Students Redesign the High School for Contemporary Arts
Students Lauren Cullen, Colleen Naylor, and Maria Serrano were challenged with designing a teacher education classroom that could spark collaboration between faculty. Students Nadira Anzum, Niraly Patel, Afua Rida, and Julia Schamroth designed a guidance suite with meeting spaces for college and career counselors and students. Student Cassandra Rosselli designed a special education classroom with organization, lighting, and layout that addresses the needs of a neurodiverse user group. Students Soraya Meadowsweet, Patrizia Dalle Mule, and Laney Rodgers reimagined what is currently a dreary basement room as a relaxing and social teachers’ lounge. Faculty member Eric Cohen acted as a guest critic for biweekly studio presentations. Students from the MPSL program, Riddhi Kiran Doshi and Callie Walton, consulted on the lighting. An alum of Service Learning, Joella Lai, taught the class how to make video walk-throughs using Enscape. “I have learned that researching the needs of a community, client, or end-user is crucial to produce impactful designs,” said Meadowsweet. “In this case, understanding the demographic, the challenges within the public school system, and the daily stresses faced by teachers revealed critical insights that helped inform our design approach.”
Kravet Student Design Challenge
In January, NYSID students participated in the Kravet Student Design Challenge at the NYSID Whiton Gallery, where they worked in teams with a design mentor to reimagine a textile design inspired by Kravet archival documents. On the winning team were NYSID students Emily Clark (BID), Lindy Crowley (MFA1), Samantha Jackson (AAS), and Erica Jobe (BID).
Sparking Warmth at Rooms with a View
Congratulations to 2025 Rooms with a View scholarship winner Swagatika Rath (MFA1), who presented her “Ember Lounge” vignette at the Rooms with a View showhouse in Southport, Connecticut, in November. This ongoing scholarship and showhouse opportunity is specifically for a NYSID junior or senior in the BFA, or a third-year MFA1 student.
Thomas Hucker, Joella Lai, Yan-Ju Yin, Soraya Meadowsweet, David Sprouls, Hanna Kerez, Samantha Elitharp, Swagatika Rath, Lauren Joyce. Photo by Alberto Vasari
Installation. Photo by Mirra Studios.
DIFFA Angels & Demons Gala
Each year, NYSID sends a faculty-supervised team to the annual DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS) Gala to design and build an installation. The theme of this year’s gala at Cathedral of St. John the Divine on March 19 was “Angels and Demons,” and some of the most prominent designers in the industry also participated. The NYSID team, supervised by faculty advisor Thomas Hucker, consisted of students Samantha Elitharp (BFA), Lauren Joyce (MFA1), Hanna Kerez (BFA), Joella Lai (MFA1), Soraya Meadowsweet (MFA1), Swagatika Rath (MFA1), Yan-Ju Yin (BFA), and Ariel Zarfati (MFA1). NYSID’s installation, “The In-Between” featured a suspended, translucent staircase symbolizing the bridge between heaven and hell.
Michaella Nemer, Ariel Zarfati, Hanna Kerez, David Sprouls, Thomas Hucker, Samantha Elitharp, Lauren Joyce, Mackenzie Meeter
NYSID Students’ Design Influences the Renovation of the Helen Keller National Center
During the summer of 2021, NYSID tasked 12 MFA1 students in NYSID’s Summer Service-learning Studio with designing spaces for the Helen Keller National Center (HKNC) in Sands Point, New York. The experience challenged them to design for DeafBlind end-users. They were supervised by faculty member Terry Kleinberg. In 2023, HKNC received a generous gift from the estate of Barbara Walters. The Walters-Smithdas Legacy Atrium, unveiled in November 2025, was made possible through that gift. The architects, Gensler’s Siobhan Barry and Santiago Rivera, modified the NYSID student design, but drew on the original research and design principles generated by the students from the 2021 Service-learning Studio. MFA1 alumni Atara Gastwirth, April Podlaski, and Kiki Sui created the original student design for the atrium. The atrium honors the legacy of Barbara Walters and her decades-long friendship with Dr. Robert J. Smithdas.
Travel Study
In 2026, NYSID offered a semester abroad in Florence, and three short-term travel study courses in Southern California, Spain, and Japan. What sets NYSID’s travel study programs apart are the instructors: experts in the design of each region. Supporters of NYSID’s Travel Study Scholarship Funds help NYSID students afford the additional costs of travel study and make it possible for the college to sustain these offerings. One of the 2026 study-abroad scholars, Ashanti King-Wynn, says of her experience in Florence, “Studying abroad has made me more aware of how design is tied to culture, history, and daily life. I’ve become more interested in how design can create emotional experiences, not just functional ones…. I’ve been able to see, learn, and grow in ways that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.”Florence: NYSID’s semester abroad in Florence allows students to take in-person studios with an accompanying NYSID instructor and electives with the partner institution, Santa Reparata International School of Art (SRISA). This year, faculty member Johannes Knoops, a well-known architect and scholar, accompanied five students for the Florence program. A significant gift to travel-study scholarships from Jonathan Gargiulo of John Rosselli & Associates made the experience of a semester abroad in Florence possible for the 2026 students.
Southern California: Taught by the architectural historians and curators Thomas Mellins and Donald Albrecht from May 23 to May 31, this course traced the seminal role Southern California has played in the evolution of modern architecture, with an emphasis on residential design in Los Angeles and Palm Springs from the 1920s through the 1960s.
Japan: Taught by architect, designer, and educator, Yutaka Takiura from May 25 to June 3, this course followed the thread of Japanese design from historic times through anime and manga. The group began in Tokyo and traveled to the historic cities of Osaka, Kobe, and Kyoto (a hub of traditional crafts and textiles production). This program was made possible by the Anne K. Duffy Fund for Non-European Study Abroad.
Spain: From May 23 to June 5, architect Camila Crazut led this journey to Barcelona, Valencia, and Granada, helping students explore the history and culture of Spain through the aesthetic and technical aspects of ceramic tiles, and through hands-on experiences.
Student & Recent Graduate Awards
Metropolis Future100
Library design by Joella Lai
Living room design by Sion Tanaka
Each year, Metropolis magazine recognizes the top graduating architecture and interior design students in the U.S. and Canada through its Future100 program. Two NYSID graduate students were selected in the interior design category for the Class of 2026 on the basis of their portfolios. Joella Lai (MFA1) was nominated by NYSID faculty member Francisco de Leon, who said, “Joella is a design thinker. She sketches out ideas that lead to well-thought-out projects.” Sion Tanaka (MFA1), was also nominated by de Leon, who said “Sion explores the possibilities within the constraints of a project and strives to make the design relevant…. She is one to watch out for.”
IDA Awards
NYSID students and recent alumni had a very strong showing in the student interior design category of the 2025 International Design Awards (IDA). Yanzhen Chen ’23 (MFA2), Anjali Khemani ’25 (MFA2), Emma Ratner ’26 (MFA2), Kelly Ratner ’26 (MFA2), and Tripureshee Vashishtha ’24 (MFA2) all took top awards in this category.
Museum of Broadway in Film by Emma Ratner
Museum of Ma by Kelly Ratner
Angelo Donghia Foundation Scholarship
Congratulations to Monica Bittenbender (BFA) and Frida Jansholt (BFA) on winning the Angelo Donghia Foundation’s scholarship competition. Bittenbender won for her Aesop hotel design. Jansholt won for her Spectrum Pathways preschool, intended to provide an inclusive environment to support children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
PAVE Awards
Shambhavi Sanjay ’25 (MFA2) was the recipient of the 2025 Inspired by Design: PAVE Student Visionary Award. Sanjay received a $7,500 prize and was honored at the 2025 PAVE Gala on December 11. Her winning project was MoMNT: Museum of Moving Narratives of Time developed in faculty member Joseph Goldstein’s Design Studio II class.
NEWH Scholarship
Caroline Vinci (MFA1) won the NEWH Interior Design scholarship sponsored by P/Kaufmann Contract. She received this $15,000 award earlier this month at the Hospitality Design Platinum Circle Gala in New York City.
IESNYC Thesis Award
Veronica Gonzalez ’25 (MPSL) was the recipient of the 2025 Illuminating Engineering Society New York City Section (IESNYC) Thesis Awards. Her thesis, Playful Layers: Children’s Home, illuminates a residence for children aged 8 to 12.
IESNYC Merit Scholarship
MPSL student Daniel Pachman was one of two 2026 recipients of the prestigious Illuminating Engineering Society New York City Section (IESNYC) Merit Scholarship. This $25,000 award—split between two recipients—supports first-year graduate students in architectural lighting at New York State institutions.
In Memoriam
Scott Ageloff
The NYSID community remembers Scott Ageloff, who passed away in June 2026. Ageloff was a distinguished architect, interior designer, and educator who served as dean of the New York School of Interior Design from 1997 to 2011 and as senior vice president for Academic Affairs from 2007 to 2011. His firm, Ageloff Design Group, became known for the thoughtful integration of architecture and interior design in the service of improving clients’ lives. “As dean, Scott helped shape NYSID’s emergence as a leader in design education, strengthening the foundation on which it continues to build today,” says NYSID President David Sprouls. “Scott’s leadership in interior design legislation, program accreditation, and the profession deeply influenced NYSID’s growth and reputation for rigorous curricula,” says NYSID Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean Ellen Fisher.
Robert A.M. Stern
A mentor to multiple NYSID alumni who worked for him over the course of decades, architect Robert A.M. Stern passed away in November 2025. The New York Times called him, “the architect who reinvented prewar splendor,” and he was well-known as the founder and principal of RAMSA, but he was also a NYSID benefactor who quietly underwrote scholarships for the College’s students. The gifts he and his firm gave to NYSID scholarships will impact students today and well into the future. NYSID President David Sprouls says, “For Robert, it was all about the students. He was a friend to many in this community, and he will be missed.”
Melinda Jaeger Bickers ’77 (BFA)
NYSID celebrates the life and legacy of alum Melinda Jaeger Bickers ’77 (BFA), who passed away in October 2025. Bickers founded her firm MJB Design in Cleveland, later moving it to New York. As an alumna, long-time faculty member, and legacy donor of NYSID’s 1916 Society, she inspired generations of students with her tremendous dedication to design. Bill Engle, NYSID alum and long-time faculty member, said, “Melinda was a supportive colleague at NYSID. She questioned everything and her spirit and thoughtfulness were contagious. She honored the work of true designers and appreciated the high levels of thinking that they embodied.” Her legacy as a gifted designer and passionate teacher will be remembered and continue to inspire this community.
