Triplets Ryan, Stephen and Catherine Klauder graduated together from Pitt in 2022, nearly a century after their great-great-great-uncle Charles Zeller Klauder designed the University’s renowned Cathedral of Learning. Photo courtesy the Klauder Family
As Pitt looks back on the September 1926 groundbreaking of the Cathedral of Learning, check out additional stories, photos, a timeline and more from the now century-old history of the University’s campus in the sky.
During his time as an undergrad at the University of Pittsburgh, Stephen Klauder (BUS ’22) always had two fun facts as icebreakers on the first day of class: He was a triplet and his great-great-great-uncle Charles Zeller Klauder was the architect behind Pitt’s famed Cathedral of Learning.
Sometimes he would even deliver the news of his connection to the architect while sitting in a Cathedral classroom. Stephen’s siblings, Catherine Klauder (NURS ’22) and Ryan Klauder (BUS ’22) attended Pitt, too.
The trio, from Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, an hour north of their ancestor’s Philadelphia hometown, only learned of his architectural legacy during their senior year of high school while scouting colleges.
In the first half of the 20th century, Charles Klauder’s designs shaped the visual character of campuses across the United States.
[Read more about how Charles Klauder helped bring Chancellor John Bowman’s audacious idea to life.]
From Cornell University in New York to the University of Colorado at Boulder and on to Pitt’s Cathedral, Heinz Memorial Chapel and Stephen Foster Memorial, his legacy lives on in brick, stone and steel.
Charles Zeller Klauder
Born in Philadelphia in 1872, Klauder studied for a brief time at the Philadelphia Museum and School of Industrial Art.
Starting at age 15, he worked in several notable architecture firms, becoming a named partner in 1911.
Klauder’s Gothic approach garnered widespread recognition, including a gold medal from the American Institute of Architects and a grand prix and silver medal from the Pan-American Congress of Architects in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
For the Klauder siblings, a familial connection to the University’s most iconic building made Pitt feel even more like home.
“Knowing we weren’t the first Klauders to be at Pitt was grounding,” says Ryan Klauder.