Bernard Armstrong
Bernard Armstrong ’85 (B.Arch)Armstrong is the Chief Executive Officer for Cedar Pacific Investment Management, a student accommodation provider founded by Pamoja Capital and headquartered in Australia. He is dedicated to leading Cedar Pacific, as it becomes the most sought-after fund manager in Australia and New Zealand and is passionate about creating positive investment opportunities whilst ensuring that social and environmental factors are considered.
Prior to joining Pamoja Capital, Armstrong was a managing director with Credit Suisse where he headed the family office business in Europe and the Middle East. He has built investment advisory and trading businesses in Europe for Chase Manhattan Bank and HSBC and has also worked at Goldman Sachs. Before embarking on a career in finance, Armstrong worked as an architect for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in New York. Projects where he took a management role include the headquarters for Merrill Lynch at the World Financial Center, the headquarters for Salomon Brothers at the WTC and a series of housing-for-the-homeless projects for New York City.
Inspired by his study abroad experiences, a gift by Armstrong in 2023 established the School of Architecture 150 Global Study Endowed Scholarship. The scholarship is awarded to third- or fourth-year undergraduate students enrolled in the School of Architecture, with preference to students who are participating in a study abroad program in Florence, Italy.
“I am honored to join such a prestigious group in advising the School of Architecture and Dean Speaks to guide the dean’s vision,” says Armstrong. “Our profession is evolving quickly, and it is imperative that our educational institutions can draw on historic precedents while training our future leaders to prepare for and embrace change.”
Armstrong holds a bachelor of architecture degree from Syracuse University and an MBA in finance and marketing from Northwestern University and sits on the European Council of Syracuse University.
Roy Raskin
Roy Raskin ’95 (B.Arch)A resident of Tel Aviv, Israel and Surfside, Florida, Raskin is a real estate developer and investor who manages numerous properties in and around Miami.
Raskin graduated high school from Tichon Hadash in Tel Aviv, Israel, and went on to serve for the Central Command—one of the four regional commands of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)—from 1986 to 1990. After fulfilling his required service in the Israeli military, he joined Syracuse University as a non-traditional student at the age of 23, where he earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the School of Architecture in 1995.
Raskin began his career in real estate working at Montroy DeMarco Architecture LLP (MDA) in New York City, as well as firms in Jerusalem, gaining his architect certification in 1998 from the Association of Engineers, Architects and Graduates in Technological Sciences in Israel (AEAI), the national umbrella organization representing its members in Israel. From 1998 to 2012, he worked at Raskin Architects & Partners where he designed and built several residential properties in Israel and one rooftop project in Miami.
In 2012, Raskin founded HR Heights LLC, a boutique real estate investment company that designs, renovates and manages vintage properties in South Florida, which he manages along with his family’s investment office, Journey’s End Partners LLC. He is currently an officer and grant committee member of the Gerald and Daphna Cramer Foundation and a member the American Friends of Reichman University (IDC Herzliya) investment committee.
Raskin is very engaged with the School of Architecture’s visiting critic studio program. Most recently he generously funded a spring studio, “Platform Surfside: The Resilient Case Study House”—part of a yearlong campaign supported by Raskin around coastal resilience in collaboration with the Surfside community.
“Being involved in shaping the education of future architects is a meaningful and rewarding responsibility,” says Raskin.
“We are thrilled to welcome Bernie and Roy to the School’s advisory board,” says Michael Speaks, dean of the School of Architecture. “Their leadership and steadfast commitment to our students, faculty and staff will continue to provide mentoring, experiential learning opportunities and scholarship for generations to come.”
