Announcing New Thomas F. and Tess L. Schutte Endowed Scholarship Fund

This video screened at Legends 2013 during the presentation of the Thomas F. and Tess L. Schutte Endowed Scholarship Fund.

This year marks President Thomas F. Schutte’s twentieth anniversary at the helm of Pratt Institute—a fact that, much to his surprise, defined this year’s Legends 2013 Gala on November 11.

Early in the evening, Trustee Emeritus Bruce Newman announced that all the proceeds from the evening, nearly $800,000, would be dedicated to a new fund named after Schutte and his wife Tess. The couple learned the news along with the rest of the crowd. 

“When I think of Tom Schutte, I think of three words: energy, passion, and dedication. No one has more energy than Tom; no one has more passion for Pratt than Tom; and no one is more dedicated to Pratt than Tom,” Trustee Emeritus Bruce M. Newman (B.F.A. Interior Design ’53) said in a video shared at the event.

Trustees Robert H. Siegel and Mike Pratt explained that the president’s vision and efforts had ushered the Institute into a new era. As chair of the Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project, Schutte helped oversee the economic resurgence of Myrtle Avenue, the largest commercial corridor by Pratt’s Brooklyn campus. He also led the acquisition of the Pratt Manhattan Campus building on 14th Street and expanded on-campus housing, transforming Pratt from a commuter school to one that attracts students from all over the world.

All of the proceeds from the evening will go toward the fund, which will also accept tax-deductible contributions through the Pratt Website.

Text: Ruth Samuelson
Video: Peter Tannenbaum

Comments

[Rudy Bryant]

Congratulations Dr. Schutte.