Jeanne Perantoni, SSP Architects and a Lasting Commitment to Hillier College

Jeanne Perantoni has spent a lifetime thinking about how buildings shape people long before they ever open their doors.

As the daughter of an architect, she grew up on construction sites, learning early to see the built environment not just as a structure, but as a story. More than four decades into her career, that instinct still guides her work — and it also helps explain why her relationship with NJIT’s Hillier College of Architecture and Design (HCAD) has meant so much over the years.

This year, Perantoni will receive the Friend of Hillier College Award during the Design Showcase 2026, an honor that recognizes her longstanding commitment to the college, its students and its broader mission.

“It means a great deal to me to receive the Friend of Hillier College Award,” said Perantoni. “It is an unexpected honor, and it sheds light on one of my passionate interests in life, which is to help break down barriers to higher education and career pathways while simultaneously raising the bar on expectations and talent development.”

That philosophy has defined much of Perantoni’s career. A longtime leader at SSP Architects, where she served for many years as chief executive officer and now continues as senior principal, she built her professional life around facility master planning — one of architecture’s most complex and collaborative disciplines. Her work has brought together school districts, universities, municipalities and community organizations to think beyond individual buildings and toward the long-term needs of the people who use them.

For Perantoni, that same spirit of inclusive planning is part of what made her connection to NJIT so meaningful.

She joined the Hillier College Advisory Board more than 20 years ago, after being invited by former dean Urs Gauchat, whose vision for linking design education with community impact immediately resonated with her. In those conversations, she found a shared belief that architecture could do more than serve the profession — it could become a vehicle for social change.

“The relationship has been so fulfilling because it has been a two-way street,” she said. “At its core, this kind of collaboration reflects a shared belief that architecture education and our work here at SSP Architects have the power to shape communities and improve lives well beyond the buildings themselves.”

Over the years, she watched the Hillier College of Architecture and Design evolve and expand, strengthening its reputation while attracting talented faculty, researchers and students. She also saw the college widen its reach through new disciplines and technologies, building on its design foundation while staying closely tied to the realities of practice.

That connection has also extended through family and firm legacy. Perantoni’s father, architect J. Francis Perantoni, helped shape the firm that would become SSP Architects and left behind a philosophy grounded in contextual design and community responsibility. That same legacy lives on at NJIT through the J. Frank Perantoni Endowed Scholarship, which supports architecture students who demonstrate both design talent and an understanding of public space’s role in community life.

SSP, too, has remained closely connected to the college — participating in the Design Showcase, mentoring students and hiring NJIT graduates across generations. For Perantoni, those graduates offer some of the clearest evidence of what makes an NJIT education stand out.

“Over time, the level of talent coming out of NJIT has continued to elevate, and we have embraced the hiring of many NJIT graduates,” she said. “Not only do these graduates enter the profession well-prepared, but they are pushing boundaries and expectations higher.”

What distinguishes HCAD, in her view, is its insistence on connecting design education to real-world challenges. She especially values the college’s commitment to community-based projects that are grounded in actual planning conditions rather than abstract exercises. That kind of exposure, she believes, prepares students not only to enter the profession, but to help lead it.

“I have always thought that this is the best way to prepare students for the realities of professional practice,” said Perantoni.

For someone whose career has been defined by building consensus, expanding opportunity and strengthening communities, the award feels especially fitting. Supporting the next generation of architects, for Perantoni and for SSP, has never been peripheral to the work. It has always been central to the legacy.