Sam Moschelli Named 2024 Distinguished Architecture Alumnus

On October 2nd, the College of Architecture and Design (CoAD) honored Salvatore (Sam) Moschelli with its 2024 Distinguished Architecture Alumni Award (DAAA). Moschelli delivered his lecture titled Citizen Architect: The art of building by serving others in front of a group of friends and alumni at 1001 Woodward in Downtown Detroit, at the site of the CoAD-designed space for exhibits, a panel discussion about the future of construction, and a day-and-a-half symposium on mass timber during September, the Detroit Month of Design.

Watch Moschelli’s Lecture

Moschelli is the 27th recipient of this prestigious award. “The DAAA recognizes alumni for their professional accomplishments, dedication to community service, and support of the College of Architecture and Design,” said CoAD Dean Karl Daubmann, “and Sam Moschelli continues to set the standard in all those areas.”

A project executive at Fanning Howey, he is known for designing buildings for K-12 and higher education clients. His portfolio includes the 2020 Bond Improvements for Birmingham Public Schools, the George and Mary Turek Hall of Science for Detroit Catholic Central, and the Munger Graduate Residences for the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

His passion for sustainable design and commitment to energy efficiency have made him a leader in shaping futureoriented learning environments.

Moschelli’s influence in architecture extends beyond his project work. One of his greatest accomplishments was leading the efforts to pass the ARE Timing Bill in the Michigan Legislature. The bill reduced the average path to architecture licensure in Michigan from 8-12 years to 6-9 years. This was signed into law as Public Act 143 of 2009.

Moschelli graduated from LTU with a Bachelor of Science in Architecture in 2000 and a Master of Architecture in 2006. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects, a LEEDaccredited professional, and is active in the National Organization of Minority Architects. In 2017, he was honored with the AIA Detroit Young Architect Award.

Daubmann added, “Sam Moschelli is the epitome of an LTU architecture graduate. In addition to his award-winning architectural accomplishments, he continues his history of giving back to his alma mater. He has been involved in Sigma Phi Epsilon as a freshman student and now works to provide scholarships for incoming freshmen each year.”

But there’s a back story to Sam Moschelli. “My influence was my father,” he said. “When he was 19 years old, his father died, and my dad had to raise his siblings. He was a cement man. As kids, my brother (George Moschelli, LTU associate professor of physics) and I worked for him on the job sites, cleaning tools, and seeing how things got built. But he always had the aspiration of becoming an architect. He’d had a semester at Lawrence Tech but had to set that aside.

I guess it was a natural thing. I didn’t even look at any other school. I always was kind of focused.”

On campus as a freshman in the fall of ‘95, Moschelli found Sigma Phi Epsilon, a social fraternity. “They were sending members to leadership conferences and letting us take leadership roles in the organization. That really set me up for a lot in my life.” He was a non-profit director for a year. He ran a company in Haiti for two years in the wake of the January 2010 earthquake that displaced 1.2 million Haitians and killed over 300,000.

Moschelli took a couple years off before starting his master’s degree in 2003. “I enjoyed grad school,” he recalled. He became a volunteer for Sigma Phi Epsilon after he graduated and has been giving back to the university and fraternity for the past couple decades, earning him the Sigma Phi Epsilon Exemplary Service award. The Balanced Man Scholarship was established in 1994 by the Lawrence Tech SigEp chapter. To date the fraternity has provided nearly $100,000 in scholarships to incoming freshmen men at Lawrence Tech. Moschelli has helped manage and grow the Balanced Man Scholarship endowment since 2009 and, in the last two years, has created a partnership with the university to split the costs of $10,000 in scholarships awarded annually.

His advice to parents and students at this year’s Balanced Man Scholarship Banquet was “College is your opportunity to experiment. Time in college is a laboratory where you get a chance to try new things, meet new people, and set a course for your life.”

He indeed set a course for his life, one that is being recognized by his peers. “It felt good to be nominated,” Moschelli said. “I’m so proud to receive this honor from people I know from the LTU Distinguished Architecture Alumni community. They are ‘doers’ in our profession.”

Tracy Sweeney, the 22nd Distinguished Architecture Alumni awardee who served as emcee for Moschelli’s award ceremony, concurs with his assessment of his LTU colleagues. “Sam was a classmate of mine. We grew up three blocks away from each other but didn’t meet till Lawrence Tech. It was super fun for me to be the emcee for his event. Moschelli joins a “distinguished” group of LTU alumni who give back.” She cites the decision of the past awardees to create a special scholarship for architecture and design seniors to urge them to continue at Lawrence Tech for their master’s degree. They have also raised funds for the upkeep of the Affleck House, the historic Frank Lloyd Wrightdesigned home owned by the university.