FRIENDS Executive Committee

Tom Scerbo
AIA
HNTB Corporation

As chair, my goal is to continue to create meaningful engagement between students, alumni, and the industry with a special focus on diversity and innovation as we educate and mentor the next generation of leaders poised to address the greatest challenges ahead of us.

It’s with great humility and enthusiasm that I accept this role and succeed my good friend Domenick Chieco, who, along with the other founding members of the FRIENDS group, have done so much to support New York Tech and the School of Architecture and Design.

John R. Sorrenti
FAIA
JRS Architect, P.C.

What is exciting to me, is that we are able to build upon the experience that the student have at New York Tech, by providing a broader exposure to architecture and the profession to the students.

For me, mentorship is most important in any career and giving back to the profession by providing greater opportunities to the students has been extremely rewarding. I believe I have learnt as much from the students as they learn from our FRIENDS efforts on their behalf.

James Smiros
AIA, Partner
Smiros & Smiros Architects

Like many graduates of the School of Architecture and Design at the New York Institute of Technology, the founding members of the Friends Group have enjoyed successful careers thanks in large part to the programs at New York Tech, which gave us an excellent foundation from which to build. As we hit a stride in our careers, we began to look for opportunities to pay it forward, and in early 2008 that vision became the genesis for the Friends Group.

Domenick Chieco, Laura Smiros, Roger Smith, John Sorrenti and I came together and implemented a framework of specific goals that became the foundation for our Mission Statement. We dedicated ourselves to raising funds to support our Mission and in these past 10 years the Friends group has accomplished more together than any of us individually could have ever thought possible. I am very grateful to the co-founders for the opportunity to work together and to give back to the SoAD for the next generation of design professionals and those to follow.

Roger P. Smith
AIA LEED AP
BBS Architects, Landscape Architects & Engineers

The formation of the FRIENDS Group over a decade ago was the brainchild of a few truly thoughtful and dedicated New York Tech alumni of the Architectural Department. WE formed this group, first as a representation that our opportunities to be successful were jettisoned by our experiences at New York Tech and that we had an opportunity now to share that success and broaden the lives of the students in the Architectural and Interior Design Departments. We wanted to be a force in the development of the departments and in the future careers of those who would join us in our profession. To do so, we had to forge our own path and then find the venues that would allow this momentum to be inserted. Giving life and subsistence to lectures, scholarships, capital improvements, and department improvements became the cornerstone of the FRIENDS gifts. Our continued support of student activities and educational trips has further enhanced the New York Tech experience.

I am grateful to be a part of such a wonderful and caring group that continues to see the future of New York Tech Architectural and Interior Design students' success as our goal to further enhance our chosen professions as we all mold the face of the earth with our efforts together!

Thank you to the FRIENDS Group!

Laura Smiros
RA, AIA, ICC, AWI, USGBC
WATG

I have enjoyed being a founding member of the FRIENDS Group for the past ten years and look forward to seeing the FRIENDS grow in numbers. Some may think it's a closed group that makes decisions, but it's not. It's truly fluid and functions with someone making a suggestion, others agreeing on the idea and the first person taking charge and acting on their idea to help the students and the school. Giving back feels good and we all know by helping the NYIT School of Architecture and Design, we are helping our own futures. New York Tech's graduates make up a large, if not the largest, proportion of architects, construction managers and designers in NY. So I challenge each and every one to do what you can. Life is funny in that you either have time or money, but rarely both together. It is my hope that recent graduates can give back with their time, and as recent graduates, advise the FRIENDS Group what they feel is need at the school to further advance the students breath of knowledge. At a certain point we all get immersed in our growing families and have little time or money and then when the kids are teenagers, college students and young adults themselves, we have an opportunity to give back again. So again, I challenge each and everyone to do what you can.

Domenick Chieco
Senior Vice President, Managing Partner
Milrose Consultants, Inc.

The Friends Group fully supports Dean Perbellini's vision to enrich the intellectual lives of the students in every aspect of their academic development by improving outreach and engagement opportunities with the professional community. I am very proud of my fellow co-founders for working so hard to continue with the Friends mission. I wish to thank all our sponsors for their ongoing support of our mission for New York Tech, because without you, this would not have been possible. Thank you.