Recognizing Excellence: Awards, Prizes and Scholarships

The Rowena Fund established an awards program to promote, celebrate and encourage the pedagogy. The Fund presents three annual awards: The Rowena Reed Kostellow Award and the Young Designer Award for professionals, The Rowena Reed Kostellow Student Prize (cash directly to students) and Rowena Reed Kostellow Pratt Scholarships.

The first Rowena Award was given in 1990 and since that time annual awards have been made to a diverse group of distinguished recipients: master teachers, designers from multiple disciplines including industrial, automotive, jewelry, glass, ceramic, graphic and exhibition design, and distinguished practitioners in architecture, music, and the arts. See the complete list of Rowena Award recipients.

The Rowena Reed Kostellow Student Prize was initiated in 1995 in discussions with Pratt President Thomas Schutte who was a champion of the Rowena Fund. The prize provides financial stipends to students nominated by faculty and chosen on the basis of juried work. From 1995 through 2009 The Rowena Reed Kostellow Student Prize was given to a single recipient. Starting in 2010 it was expanded to include one student from each year, sophomore through senior, and in 2014 a graduate student award was added. Since 1995, more than $50,000 has been given to students, in prizes ranging from $500 to $2,500. See the complete list of Rowena Student Prize recipients.

In 2006 the Fund established an endowed Rowena Reed Kostellow Pratt Scholarship contributing to Pratt Institute scholarships for Industrial Design students. Several scholarships based on student accomplishment and need are awarded each year. To date, over $60,000 in scholarships has helped talented students pursue their Pratt design educations.