Praful Kulkarni ('74) pays tribute to the life of Professor David Sharpe
Information provided by Praful Kulkarni ('74)
Alumnus and IITKGP Foundation US Life Time Trustee, Praful Kulkarni ('74, Arch., RK) remembers his professor, thesis advisor, and mentor.
Top Photo: 1979--At Skidmore Owings Merrill, the first Architectural firm Praful worked at in the US and where David was a partner.
Bottom Photo: David and Praful in 2019
The US experience for IIT's incoming students is rich. Most universities and communities have been very welcoming to the IITians. Prof David Sharpe was a prime example of this richness. I was fortunate enough to receive the only Rockefeller Foundation fellowship for Arts and Architecture to do graduate work at Illinois Institute of Technology mostly known as Illinois Tech. Mies van der Rohe was a pioneering architect in the Bauhaus movement in Europe in the 1920s and migrated to the US. He master planned the Illinois Tech campus and also set up the school of Architecture in 1956. His most famous landmark building is the S.R. Crown Hall where the school of architecture is housed. Prof Sharpe was a Mies disciple and was one of the first African American architects in the US. It was my privilege to have him as my thesis advisor and a mentor. A huge influence. Not only did I learn architecture, planning and construction from him he was my father figure to look up to in the US. He will be sorely missed. (Prof Sharpe's Obituary from Illinois Tech Today) (Images from Illinois Institute of Technology)
If you have a past professor that has made a lasting impact in your life and you would like to honor them, please send any information you have to info@iitkgpfoundation.org. We may be able to share your tribute in an upcoming newsletter!