Florence Knoll (née Schust, 1917- 2019) studied architecture at the Cranbrook Academy of Art – considered the birthplace of American modernism – where she became a protégée of Eero Saarinen. She worked briefly for Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer before joining the offices of Hans Knoll in 1943. She became a business and design partner and as husband and wife they established Knoll Associates in 1946.