Mario's Salvadori Scholarship / Michael Bennett Memorial Award / Al Isaac Memorial Award

The Salvadori Center awards three scholarships, two of which are geared to students, the third toward teachers.

• MARIO SALVADORI SCHOLARSHIP FOR STUDIES IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT - Dr. Mario Salvadori was a renowned structural engineer who later in life began teaching engineering to New York City public school students. He strongly believed that children could have critical learning experiences by studying the structures (buildings, bridges, etc.) of a city. The Salvadori Center continues his work with children and teachers in NYC and beyond. To honor his legacy, the Center is offering The Mario Salvadori Scholarship for Studies in the Built Environment in the amount of $2000. The scholarship will support a high school senior attending a 2- or 4-year college to pursue a field related to the built environment (engineering, architecture, design, urban planning, environmental science, building technology, materials science, or interior design – though this list is not exhaustive). You can request an application by email or download one (in PDF).
• MICHAEL BENNETT MEMORIAL AWARD - The Michael Bennett Memorial Award is named for a former Salvadori student who was killed through a senseless act of violence in 1999. We honor his memory by providing support to a K-12 Salvadori Program student to pursue additional learning and enrichment. You can request a list of qualifying programs and an application by email or download one in PDF.
• AL ISAAC MEMORIAL AWARD FOR TEACHERS - The Al Isaac Memorial Award for Teachers honors the memory of our dear colleague, one of the Center’s first full-time educators, who died suddenly in 2004. This award is given to a Salvadori teacher who has taken part in the Center's programs to pursue professional development to enhance his or her understanding and practice of Salvadori Pedagogy. The selected workshop should focus on the built environment, design, etc. The teacher can also apply his or her award to attend a Salvadori professional development session. (Note: Upon completion of a non-Salvadori professional development program, recipients are required to submit a written summary of the experience.) You can request an application by email or download one (in PDF).

Our founder, Mario Salvadori, a world-renowned structural engineer, believed that the built environment held all the knowledge that a person needed to be an intelligent and active member of the community. What teachers need to make this knowledge available to their students are tools with which they can "unpack" the knowledge embedded in the built environment.

The Salvadori Center gives these tools to teachers and students through a pedagogy grounded in what it calls "project-based, hands-on/minds-on activities" that employ the principles of architecture, engineering, and the design process. Through this method, teachers and their students can unlock the math, science, art, and humanities embodied in the structures and systems that surround them.