Elizabeth Graziolo AR'95

Photo of Elizabeth Graziolo

On August 31, 2023, Elizabeth Graziolo AR'95 was featured in a New York Times article: "An Architect Who Forges Ahead in Her Own Lane":

".... She set her sights on the Cooper Union, a pioneering New York university that didn’t charge tuition at that time. When she couldn’t apply to its engineering school — no one had advised her to take the required SAT — she put in an application to the school of architecture. She was just 16 when she got in.

Once there, she fell in love with the subject. The curriculum was “super conceptual,” Ms. Graziolo said — one assignment was to analyze a juicer — but the classes opened her eyes to the built environment and the impact that design has on people. When she graduated in 1995, Ms. Graziolo recalled she was one of only two Black students in her class. The college said it did not keep statistics on race back then so could not confirm her recollection....

Ms. Graziolo, who is a trustee of Cooper Union, makes time to meet with students at her alma mater.

“She has served as a mentor and role model, particularly for young female architects,” said Laura Sparks, the university’s president..."

To read the full New York Times feature about Elizabeth Graziolo AR'95, please click here:

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.