Each year, graduating students from the Harvard Graduate School of Design come together to nominate and elect classmates to serve as commencement marshals by program. Being selected as a commencement marshal is one of Harvard’s most beloved traditions and is a high honor for a graduating student. During commencement exercises, marshals help to organize the GSD procession to Harvard Yard. After Commencement, the marshals become the alumni liaisons for their class cohorts.
Meet the graduates who will represent their program at the GSD’s 2022 Commencement:
Architecture: Sarah Pumphrey
Sarah Pumphrey proclaimed her dream to be an architect in first grade. After exploring the fields of graphic design and sociology, she graduated with a BFA in Architectural Design from James Madison University near her hometown of Richmond, Virginia. At JMU, she earned the Thesis Prize, the J. Binford Walford Scholarship in Architecture, and was named Alan Tschudi Outstanding Student in Design. While at the GSD, Sarah engaged in student leadership, serving as Student Forum Academic Chair and Resources Chair, a Mentor with The Mentor Collective, and a Graduate Teaching Assistant. Sarah was an entrepreneur-in-residence at MITdesignX, and, alongside her co-founders, won third place of the top nine startups at MIT in 2021. She collaborated with CO-G Architecture and worked for MACHADO SILVETTI during her time at the GSD. This summer, Sarah will nurture her love for sharing knowledge, “works-in-progress”, and interdisciplinary learning by teaching in the GSD Design Discovery program.
Landscape Architecture: Matthew Gorab
Originally from Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, Matt Gorab moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where he studied Architectural Studies at Boston University. At Harvard, Matt worked as a Research Assistant Teaching Assistant and served as an MLAI ’23 Class representative. During his time at the GSD, his interests in Landscape honed in on the healing capacities of Landscape and the harmonies infrastructure and Landscape can yield. As a recipient of the Penny White Project Fund, Matt completed field research for his project, Rest Stopping Across America: An Investigation of Northeast and Midwest Rest Stops. When he finds the time, Matt enjoys bookmaking, reading, or sitting under a Shagbark Hickory.
Urban Design: Haixin Yin
Haixin Yin was born and raised in an urban planner family in Kunming, China. He received his B.A. in Architecture with distinction from Tongji University, where he was appointed the college marshal with the highest honor of Outstanding Graduate of Shanghai. His professional interests lie at the intersection of urbanism, AI-aided design, and sustainable development. At GSD, Haixin explored how cities can use high-performance transportation infrastructure, such as high-speed rails, to cultivate centrality and efficiency, proposing sustainable travel methods in the urban realm. And his paper Speedy Facade: AI generation of 3D building façades from users’ verbal descriptions, which helped all stakeholders join the decision-making process with improved inclusiveness, was recently accepted by eCAADe 2023. Outside of class, Haixin volunteered at Sunshine House, co-creating artworks with individuals with different abilities and participating in public exhibitions. He enjoys running along the Charles, snowboarding, and traveling in his free time.
Urban Planning: Lindsey Mayer
Lindsey Mayer grew up in the Rocky Mountains of Ogden, Utah and received her B.A. in Political Science at the University of Portland. Before coming to Harvard, Lindsey worked for the New York City Mayor’s Office under the Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development, where she was inspired by the role that planning can play in making cities more equitable. She then went on to work at the NYC Economic Development Corporation where she co-founded the Design Corps, an initiative that paired architects with restaurants under the City’s outdoor dining program in response to Covid-19. During her time at the GSD, Lindsey discovered how planning is crucial in meeting our decarbonization goals and worked on several climate-oriented projects based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she plans to work after graduation. She is tremendously honored to represent the 2023 cohort of graduating MUPs and is already looking forward to her future class reunions.
Design Studies: Ibrahim Ibrahim
Ibrahim Ibrahim is a Lebanese design technologist working across disciplines and scales: from philosophy of technology to innovative technical workflows, to exploring collaborations between humans, machines, and artificial intelligence. He is currently a MDes (Mediums) candidate where he researches the creative applications of machine learning in design processes and tools. Prior to joining Harvard, Ibrahim practiced as an architect and computational designer in Los Angeles, Madrid, and Dubai. He holds a B.A. in Architecture from the American University of Sharjah, where he received the MAD Award, Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence, and the Sheikh Khalifa merit scholarship.
Design Engineering: Yoolim Jenn Kim
Yoolim Jenn Kim, originally from Seoul, had a formative cross-cultural upbringing in Korea and the US. She studied sociology and psychology at Wellesley College and researched at MIT’s Media Lab, where her passion for the convergence of social science, technology, and design flourished. She then worked as a consultant at Accenture, catering to clients across finance, hospitality, and healthcare. At Harvard, Jenn further expanded her horizons by exploring complex systemic problems, including designing a sepsis diagnostic kit, promoting food waste awareness, combating malnutrition in Mali, and preserving indigenous knowledge as cultural sovereignty. Her nonlinear and diverse journey embodies the multidisciplinary spirit of the MDE program and its students, whom she is constantly inspired by. Jenn also served as the MDE ’23 Class Representative for two years and Teaching Fellow at SEAS. In her leisure time, Jenn enjoys walking by the Charles, hot yoga, and exploring art museums. Jenn is honored to represent the remarkable 2023 cohort of MDE students.
Doctor of Design: Daniel Tish
Daniel Tish is a designer and researcher whose work lies at the intersection of digital fabrication, material science, sustainability, and computation. Daniel’s dissertation research develops carbon-negative, 3D-printable building materials made from microalgae. His work treats the high carbon footprint of the built environment as an opportunity for design and configures circular economies and technological solutions to address this issue. The research establishes multidisciplinary collaborations with domain experts in material science and operates from both a top-down ecosystem and a bottom-up material perspective. Daniel is a member of the MaP+S group at the GSD, and the Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities and the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University have generously supported his research. Daniel is an Instructor in Architecture at the GSD and was previously a Lecturer at the University of Michigan. His work has been published in several journals and international conferences and recently exhibited at Design Miami/Basel.