New York, May 9, 2006 – Mary Dierickx,
Chair
of the James Marston Fitch Charitable Foundation, announced that Erin
Tobin Bearden has been named the organization’s second Executive
Director. "We are
delighted to have a new director who will continue the work of the
Foundation.
Erin Tobin Bearden brings preservation knowledge, experience and
enthusiasm
to the organization,” Dierickx stated. "She will build on the work
accomplished
by our first Executive Director, Lisa Kersavage, to further the mission
of
the Foundation and expand the Foundation’s outreach."
The James Marston Fitch Charitable
Foundation,
founded in 1988, was established to recognize the unique contribution
of
Dr. Fitch to the field of historic preservation in the United States.
James
Marston Fitch founded the first formal historic preservation program in
the
United States with Charles Peterson at Columbia University’s School of
Architecture
in the 1960s and was a pioneer in the field of historic preservation
within
the United States. The Foundation honors Dr. Fitch’s legacy through a
research
grant program, as well as publications, seminars and lectures, that
support
and advance the study and practice of preservation in the United
States.
Erin Tobin Bearden, the Fitch Foundation’s new Executive Director,
holds
a Master of Science degree in Historic Preservation from the University
of
Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Fine Arts (now the School of
Design).
In addition to her appointment as Executive Director, Bearden will
continue
to serve as Director of Preservation Services at Historic Albany
Foundation
in Albany, NY, where she acts as principal staff for historic
preservation, implementing advocacy, technical services, and
educational programming. Bearden is the former Manager of Grants
and Technical Services for the Sacred
Sites Program and Technical Services Center of the New York Landmarks
Conservancy.
