Letter from PDAA President Marcus Acheson

Dear PennDesign Alumni,

As the incoming president of the PennDesign Alumni Association, I recently had the honor of congratulating the recent graduates on their official membership to a proud and illustrious group: the alumni of the University of Pennsylvania School of Design. Naturally, this means our membership has grown by the numbers, but I write to you now to inspire you all to strengthen our bonds as alumni, and join in the connective tissue that makes our school and our careers grow stronger.

We all came to PennDesign with some common goals as architects, city planners, artists and preservationists. One of those goals was most assuredly to pursue opportunities to make the world a better place, be that a more respectful one, a more sustainable one, a smarter one or simply a more beautiful one. In order to achieve those goals, we chose PennDesign as the best place for us. The School has played an important role in forming our personal and professional development.

In choosing to come to our school, we also might acknowledge that PennDesign chose us, and for good reason. PennDesign strives to foster a culture of Design that encourages all of its students to achieve their goals. For over a century and a half, as one of the oldest programs in the University, PennDesign has facilitated the growth of many great minds who endeavored to do the things they came here to do. As alumni, we are continuing that legacy.

In the professional realm, alumni can continue to experience the great opportunity of PennDesign’s outstanding resources. We are connected on an international scale; just visit our LinkedIn Group page to discover peers and future colleagues from London to Beijing, San Francisco to Madrid. The PennDesign Alumni Association serves to foster that connectivity, promoting the idea that as individuals, we are making a difference, and as a group we are affecting change around the world. On our Facebook page we can follow architects writing about issues in Tehran, artists and their work in a variety of disciplines, and a treasure of projects preservationists are securing for posterity. Our Twitter feed keeps us abreast of the headlines, and Vimeo gives us access to lectures and various activities on campus. These great resources allow us all to keep up to date with press around the globe about our faculty and graduates. The world is clearly a better place.

The PennDesign Alumni Association is here to be a professional, creative, and social resource to each of our 10,000 members.  As you embark on your respective professional journeys, I hope you will join me in celebrating all the achievements of our students and alumni with a donation to the PennDesign Annual Fund. Your tax-deductible gift, however large or small, will ensure that we have the necessary resources to provide support for our students today and for years to come. It can be made securely online, or if you prefer, you may write to request we can send you an envelope with more information about the School's fellowship programs. Gifts will receive special recognition in PennDesign's honor roll. 

Lastly, to keep our connections strong, please keep us updated on your contact information and consider joining one of our regional chapters.  Regional chapters offer many networking and professional development opportunities throughout the year.   And, please feel free to contact us if we can ever be of assistance with anything related to Penn or PennDesign. 

Best regards,

Marcus

Marcus Acheson, C ‘94, MArch ‘99
PDAA Board President

Ballinger

T:215.359.8370z
macheson@ballinger-ae.com

PennDesign Development and Alumni Relations
University of Pennsylvania
School of Design
102 Meyerson Hall
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6311
215-898-2539
pdalumni@design.upenn.edu