Sirovich Family Commits $2.5 Million to Create Professorship For Math and Art
Pratt Institute Chair of Mathematics and Science Carole SirovichIn honor of Mathematics and Science Chair Carole Hochman Sirovich, her husband Lawrence Sirovich and their son Matthew have made a $2.5 million commitment to establish the Sirovich Family Professorship of Mathematics for the Arts in Pratt’s School of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
The professorship, which also honors Libby Silverstein Sirovich, Lawrence’s mother and Matthew’s grandmother, aims to promote cross-disciplinary collaborations and initiatives to explore connections between mathematics and art, design, and architecture. In so doing, it will highlight the potential role of mathematics in the creation of art, in the way that people experience art, and will provide new opportunities for the Pratt community to discover the mathematical beauty at the heart of art, design, and architecture.
“We created this professorship to honor Carole, a profoundly inspiring teacher of Pratt students and her own children, and to honor my mother who was my best teacher,” said Lawrence Sirovich. “It is our hope that this professorship will perpetuate and advance the deep and penetrating connections of mathematics with art, architecture, and design."
“This is a truly transformative gift for Pratt Institute. This endowed professorship, the first in Pratt’s history for a full-time faculty position, will play a vital role in helping to build Pratt’s professoriate—one of the Institute’s top priorities—by attracting a leading scholar and educator. At the same time, it opens exciting new arenas of interdisciplinary exploration, an academic approach for which Pratt is known,” said Pratt President Thomas F. Schutte. “I am deeply grateful to the entire Sirovich family for their tremendous generosity and foresight in establishing the Sirovich Family Professorship of Mathematics for the Arts.”
The gift will support the professor’s research activities, scholarly pursuits, and other related initiatives. In so doing, it will bolster Pratt’s increasingly strong reputation in the liberal arts and sciences. Most recently, the Institute was ranked 20th in the region (up from 26th) in U.S. News and World Report's prestigious “Best Colleges 2013” publication. The rankings covered 98 institutions in the U.S. News’s Regional Universities North category that provide a full range of undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
“Pratt is unique among the nation’s art and design colleges for its robust liberal arts offerings, particularly in math and science. The Institute is already making a name for itself in the field of science and art, thanks to the leadership of key faculty members,” said Andrew W. Barnes, Dean of Pratt’s School of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “I anticipate that the Sirovich Family Professorship of Mathematics for the Arts will allow Pratt to create a groundbreaking academic and research program at the intersection of mathematics and art, design, and architecture and will revolutionize the approach to these disciplines.”
Lawrence is a mathematical scientist whose career spans many decades in wide ranging fields. Carole and Lawrence’s daughter, Brenda, is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Dartmouth Medical School and Matthew is an investment firm founder and managing partner of Manhattan based Scopia Capital LLC. The couple has two grandchildren, Lucas and Eliza, who they believe will be heard from in the future.
Text: Charlotte Savidge
Photo: Courtesy Professor Damon Chaky
Gateway Editors
Reader Comments (3)
I still remember what a wonderful teacher you were when I attended Pratt/Architecture and took some of your classes about 10 - 12 years ago. I was an older student and had to brush up in my math. Hope you're doing well and good luck in your research!
Grace Deitel