Vincent L. Michael, Ph.D.

A professional preservationist since 1983, Vincent worked on the creation and interpretation of the Illinois & Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor as a planner and advocate for Landmarks Illinois for eight years. He received his B.A. and M.A. from the University of Chicago and received a Trustee’s Award from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts to complete his doctorate in architectural history at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

In 2006 he became the John H. Bryan Chair in Historic Preservation at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he was Director of the Master of Science in Historic Preservation program from 1996 to 2010. Vince is a Trustee of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the nation’s premier private preservation organization, where he serves as Vice Chair of the Preservation and Sites Committee and Vice Chair of the Diversity Task Force. He is Chair Emeritus of the National Council for Preservation Education, and of the Site Council for the Gaylord Building, a National Trust property. He has served on the Executive Committee of Landmarks Illinois for over six years, and also served on the Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council and Oak Park Historic Preservation Commission.

Since 2003 he has worked to preserve the Weishan Heritage Valley in Yunnan, China with the Center for US-China Arts Exchange at Columbia University and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, frequently bringing student study groups to the Southern Silk Road city. He has also been involved in the preservation of the Cercado World Heritage Site in Lima, Peru. Vince has lectured on heritage conservation, architecture, geography, art and history throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. His writings include a book on Prairie School architect Barry Byrne, articles in Design Issues, Future Anterior, Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Traditional Building, and forum journal. Vincent’s weekly blog, Time Tells, began in 2005 and generates 8,000 page views monthly.