A vital component of Philanthropy Week at Syracuse University is the Phanstiel Lecture. Each year, it features a speaker whose story and personal commitment to serving others elevate the conversation of philanthropy campuswide.
This year’s lecturer is Todd B. Rubin, the man who, through his generosity and a gift from the Rubin Family Foundation, established the Rubin Global Design Studio in the School of Architecture. The program enables the School to take one studio of students, led by a faculty member, to a foreign country for one week during the semester.
The trip is a unique opportunity for architecture students to experience the cultural and political conditions that produce a city with quality public space, public housing, and sustainability policies. The program took students to Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2012; Baku, Azerbaijan, in 2013; and Taipei, Taiwan, in 2014. Earlier this semester, Todd joined 18 students as they travelled to Rosario and Buenos Aires in February. In his presentation, Rubin will talk about the impact he’s seen the program have on its students, and explain why giving is so important to him.
A graduate of Syracuse University’s School of Architecture and a member of the school’s Advisory Board and SU’s San Francisco Regional Council, Rubin started his career as a junior designer in the New York City office of Gensler, the global architecture and design firm, where he focused primarily on retail design.
Today, he is a vice president responsible for new business development, sales systems, and new product development for The Republic of Tea, a family-owned and -operated company based in Novato, California. He has utilized his background in architecture throughout The Republic of Tea brand by overseeing the design of the company’s shipping center in Nashville, Illinois, as well as its Novato headquarters.
