Joseph “Joe” W. Santamaria

Houston, Texas 77005-1531

Undergraduate college/major: College of Architecture, Art and Planning.

Affiliations while at Cornell: Alpha Sigma Phi, L’Ogive Architectural Honorary Society, Freshman Football, Freshman and Varsity Lacrosse, Naval ROTC.

Career/occupation:

Registered Architect, State of Texas. I have served as a Senior Project Architect and Construction Administrator at a number of architectural firms in Houston, and been involved in a number of major building projects in Houston. I am now retired from the practice of architecture.

Honors and awards: 1: Treasurer and Executive Committee of the South Main Center Association (SMCA). (SMCA is a not-for-profit advocacy group for the portion of Houston that comprises Rice University, Texas Medical Center, numerous commercial enterprises, and some of Houston’s prime residential neighborhoods). 2: One of my great honors was to serve as Co-Chair of the 1987 Thomas Mackesey Memorial Lecture Series in the AAP at Cornell. (This program brought together AAP alumni to tell of their varied careers and to share their thoughts and “hind-sights” about their Cornell experience. As I said after the program, if a man is known by the company he keeps, I was a really great person for 2-1/2 days! It was a great group of Cornellians who participated in that series – we had a somewhat similar education at AAP but the different career paths that we all followed were incredible.) 3. Member of the Board of Directors (twice) at The Briar Club in Houston Texas. (This is a Swim, Tennis, Fitness, and Dining Club in Houston. I was proud to lend my design and construction expertise during the Club’s two major renovations and expansions. I served as Vice President of the Club and continue to serve on various committees in the Club.)

Important affiliations: Member, America Institute of Architects (AIA). Served as Second Vice President in 1975, and have been a member of the AIA/AGC (Associated General Contractors) Joint Committee (This committee meets regularly to discuss areas of mutual concern in the Design/Construction Community); Have been involved with the Texas Architects Political Action Committee as well; Member of The Sons of the Republic of Texas. (I am a fifth generation Texan – my maternal Grandfather, John Henry Moore came to Texas in 1824 and fought in the Texas Revolution.)

Marital status: Married to Nancy since June 10, 1967.

Spouse: Nancy Cox Santamaria, Univ. of Georgia and Master of Accounting from the Jones School of Management at Rice University. She is a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority and was recently awarded a 50 year pin for membership in Kappa.

Children:

Jason Andrew Santamaria (40): High honors grad in Economics from the Univ. of Texas, Fulbright Scholar, USMC Artillery Officer, MBA from Wharton School of Business at Univ. of Pennsylvania. Married to Kimberly Brown Seidel (Harvard College 1994). Kim is the daughter of Roger Seidel ’62, and Polly Seidel ‘67. This makes 3 out of the 4 parents (and grandparents) Cornellians! Jason and his family reside in Anaheim, California and he is employed by Avery Denison and Eric Foley Santamaria (37): Colorado State Univ. BS in Engineering 1998, MBA from Boston Univ. 2006. Eric currently resides in Cambridge, Massachusetts with his spouse, Steve Martin. Since graduation, Eric is employed by General Electric and is active in gay and lesbian advocacies in the greater Boston Area.

Grandchildren: Michael Alexander Santamaria (3) and Suzanne Elizabeth Santamaria (1).

Outstanding Cornell memory: Getting on the train at Union Station in Houston, Texas in September 1957 along with Todd Smith (Lamer High School classmate), and two days later, after traveling in the chair cars on the Missouri Pacific, New York Central, and finally Lehigh Valley Railroads, coming down the “last leg” of our long journey down the east side of Cayuga Lake, on a beautiful sunny day, and seeing the Cornell campus on the west side of the lake, then arriving at the Lehigh Valley Station, and having our trunks loaded up in taxis, and then taken up The Hill to University Hall 3 on the Campus.

How has your life differed from what you expected? I guess that I pretty much followed a typical career path for an architect, and have some good accomplishments to “hang my hat on”. However, I am pleased with the fact that I have made accomplishments to my profession and my community.

Post-grad Cornell activities: Interviewer of prospective architectural students for Cornell AARP for about 20 years; Huge fan of Cornell Athletics, thanks to the Internet. Member of Cornell Football Association, former player (on the bench), proud supporter and avid fan of Cornell Lacrosse – GO BIG RED! And, I was really proud of the Big Red Basketball Team last year, reaching the Sweet 16. Really proud of the Cornell Wrestling Team!

Personal reflections: I haven’t “set the world on fire” in my profession or in my civic accomplishments, but, I can give Cornell the credit for what I have accomplished. I am really proud that I took the “big plunge”, applied to Cornell, was accepted, and then traveled almost 1800 miles to get there. I arrived on Campus from Texas as a “socially challenged” 18 year old, very unsure of himself, and not knowing what to expect. I struggled those first months (actually the first 1-1/2 years!), but gradually began to gain self-confidence. I thrived at Cornell, and thanks to the University and my fraternity, Alpha Sigma Phi, I developed good social skills and got a good education. Cornell gave me the self-confidence to succeed in life, marry a fine woman, and raise two good kids.