Barbara S. Christen, Ph.D.
Barbara S. Christen manages the research, writing, and editorial work of TCLF. She has had a long-standing interest and background in landscape and architectural history matters, and has worked in these areas at several art and cultural institutions, among them the New-York Historical Society (now known as New York Historical) and the National Gallery of Art. She has considerable background in the architectural and planning history of Minnesota-born and nationally prominent architect Cass Gilbert and also the wider aspect of campus and preservation planning history. Her published work includes Cass Gilbert, Life and Work: Architect of the Public Domain, which grew out of the first symposium to reevaluate Gilbert’s contributions to the American landscape after his architectural projects had been long underappreciated. This symposium was one of many Manhattan- and Brooklyn-based activities that celebrated Gilbert’s work. Her other publications address various aspects of the architect’s career in Waterbury, Waterford, and New Haven, Connecticut; Detroit; and Washington, D.C. Prior to coming to TCLF, she served as technical advisor for the Society of College and University Planning (SCUP) Campus Heritage Discovery Project, analyzing campus heritage projects funded by the Getty Foundation. At the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), she developed and led the CIC Historic Campus Architecture Project, an inventory of historic campus architecture and landscape design regarding more than 2000 cultural heritage sites at nearly 400 campuses of independent colleges and universities across the United States. She received her Ph.D. in art and architectural history from the City University of New York Graduate Center, and was a student of the late Olmsted scholar, Albert Fein.