Michael Samuelian

Michael Samuelian the Founding Director of the Cornell Tech Urban Tech Hub. He is an urban planner, real estate developer, professor and most recently the President and CEO of the Trust for Governors Island. From the revitalization Lower Manhattan after 9/11 to the creation of a new neighborhood in Hudson Yards and the activation of Governors Island he’s helped plan, design and develop some of the most transformative projects in New York City. Prior to his appointment as President of the Trust, Michael was a Vice President with Related Companies, where he was responsible for the planning and design of Hudson Yards. After 9/11, Michael was the Director of Lower Manhattan Special Projects at the New York City Department of City Planning, helping the city’s efforts to redevelop downtown. He received a Master of Architecture in Urban Design from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Architecture from Cooper Union. Michael is currently an Assistant Professor at Cooper Union, where he teaches “Professional Practice” in the School of Architecture. In 2018 Michael was the Bass Distinguished Fellow at the Yale School of Architecture, he is also a frequent lecturer at Harvard Law School and NYU Schack Institute. Michael holds concurrent academic appointments at both Harvard and Yale in the spring of 2020. At Yale he teaches a new seminar on the history, planning and design of Hudson Yards, while at Harvard he leads an urban design studio focused on the former Amazon site in Long Island City. Michael is a Fellow of the AIA and Chair of the New York State Board for Architecture.