As Part of Architectural Legacy, DAAP Alums Grow Scholarship Fund

An architectural scholarship fund is helping DAAP students. That fund, the Strauss-Roush Scholarship, is growing as alumni honor two architectural leaders in the region (Carl Strauss and Ray Roush) who mentored and led generations of UC students via the university's co-op program.

No less than internationally acclaimed architect and University of Cincinnati alumnus Michael Graves once praised Cincinnati architects Carl Strauss and Ray Roush for both their leadership and their comradeship.

Graves, a one-time co-op student of the partners recalled in a 1996 interview how they mentored him long into his stellar career. Said Graves, "Strauss and Roush were great mentors and lifelong friends. I remember we all worked in one room during my co-ops. Carl allowed the co-op students to do so much. The more I worked, the more responsibility I was given."

Many other graduates of UC's top-ranked architecture program feel the same way about Strauss and Roush, who served as co-op employers for more than 40 years. (Co-op or cooperative education as it is called is the practice wherein students alternate quarters or semesters in the classroom with quarters or semesters of professionally paid work related directly to their majors. UC is the global birthplace of co-op, having founded the practice in 1906. Today, UC houses a Top Ten co-op program, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report.)

Architecture students in UC's College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP) generally graduate with about 18 months of professionally paid experience on their resumes.

Mark Beck, who graduated from DAAP in 1958 as a classmate of Graves and also worked as a co-op student employed by Strauss and Roush, recalled them in much the same was as did Graves.

Stated Beck, "I had a great deal of admiration for Carl and Ray, especially as mentors and teachers. I've given to the scholarship fund, and want to lead efforts to grow the fund, as a memorial to honor their lives and work. They made a real difference in so many lives and made a real contribution to architecture in Cincinnati."

That's certainly true in terms of the current student recipient of a Strauss-Roush Scholarship, architecture senior Travis Hope, 21, of Tremont City, Ohio.

DAAP student Travis Hope, at right, while in Copenhagen for a UC study abroad experience.

According to Hope, the $2,500 award has made so much possible, including a recent study abroad summer during which he studied extensively in Copenhagen, Denmark, but also traveled in the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Hope explained, "The scholarship helped a lot with the study abroad. It was great for me as an architecture student to see different cultures, different landscapes and cityscapes. You can study a building in class, but you can't get a complete feel for it till you've been there. And while abroad, I visited many buildings we had studied in class."

By way of example, he described how St. Peter's Basilica in Rome "took me by surprise. I'm a fan of modernist architecture, so I wasn't expecting to be so impressed by this structure. To experience the floor plan and lay out, the structure and the scale of the design, it was an amazing experience that has really caused me to have a greater appreciation for this style of architecture. I just wish everyone could go see it."

Hope's summer study and travel were so meaningful in terms of broadening his awareness as a designer - and even as an individual - that he decided to co-op abroad this quarter, in Mexico City, where he is currently living and working.

Though the Strauss-Roush Scholarship was founded only three years ago in 2006, it has already benefited six students, including Hope. These are

Lauran Drown
Ryan Mills
Emma Scarmack
Sean Cottengim
David Jarmus
Travis Hope

As with Hope, the scholarship has meant a lot to the other student recipients, including DAAP alumna Lauran Drown, 24, originally of Monroeville, Ohio, but now living in Taos, N.M., and working for design firm LDG, Inc.

Drown was the first-ever recipient of the Strauss-Roush Scholarship in 2006-2007. The scholarship was vital to Drown because she worked her way through college without financial assistance from her family. She recalled, "It helped me to have a better educational experience. It allowed me to graduate with less than $10,000 in debt, and that means quite a lot these days."

DAAP faculty member Aarati Kanekar, left, and Lauran Drown, center, during Lauran's student days. At right is one-time DAAP student Lidya Zyskina. This photo was taken after Lauran's return from her study abroad experience in India.

And as with Hope, it also allowed Drown the opportunity to study abroad - at India's premiere architecture school located at the Center for Environmental Planning and Technology in Ahmedabad, India. "I'd never been outside the United States before, and I definitely wanted an international experience as part of my college career," she said.

For alumnus Beck, of Easton, Md., one of the reasons he's given to the scholarship fund and plans to lead future efforts to grow the fund is the effort to treat today's young designers in UC's architecture program as he was treated by his one-time co-op employers, Strauss and Roush.

According to Beck, "When young people receive help, especially from people they don't know, they begin to see the world as a caring place. Their vision is expanded and they are helped to become responsible citizens of a larger world. When others invest in their future by way of scholarships, I see a difference in the quality and sense of relationship that these students aquire. It not only improves the lives of the individuals but of entire communities."

Because of that, both Carl Strauss and Ray Roush, both of whom passed away in 2002, would have been proud to know that a scholarship effort had begun as a memorial to them, according to Alex Christoforidis, UC assistant professor of professional practice (co-op) and a past employee of Strauss.

The partners wholeheartedly believed in mentoring young talent, stated Christoforidis.

He recalled, "I worked with Carl for five years. It was a great place for a young person to learn the practice of architecture because it was a small firm. An intern or co-op student was exposed to every aspect of practice. Ray and Carl took such a personal interest in all the co-op students and employees. They always allowed the co-op students to do meaningful, quality work. They left a great mentorship legacy that has been recognized statewide with the 2002 AIA Ohio Mentor Firm of the Year Award. And, this scholarship fund is, in a way, a national legacy because alums across the country have contributed."

Any architecture student wanting to apply for the $2,500 Strauss-Roush Scholarship should visit the DAAP Web page regarding the scholarship.

Anyone wishing to donate to the scholarship should contact DAAP's Laura Dorl at 513-556-1211 or laura.dorl@uc.edu