RESUME John Robbins 20 Ninth Street NE Washington, DC 20002 Day phone: 202-842-6224 Email: j-robbins@nga.gov Career My career has touched on nearly all aspects of heritage conservation practice, and a broad range of heritage resources both tangible, such as buildings, landscapes, artifacts, and works of art, and intangible, such as history, craft, and historic character. I have worked in public service and private practice on major projects such as the restoration of the Statue of Liberty; on collaborative initiatives such as the Smithsonian Institution s international training in preventive conservation; in senior positions at major museums; and in senior positions at research, documentation, and grant programs such as the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training and the National Center for Cultural Resources. I have substantial expertise in special topics such as museum period rooms; conservation of concrete, stone, outdoor copper and bronze; and repatriation of archeological and ethnographic materials. Experience National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (2005-present) Deputy Administrator The National Gallery of Art is an internationally prominent art museum that receives over 4 million US and overseas visitors each year. I share oversight and responsibility for 10 operational divisions and 2 specialized offices Administrative Services Architecture and Engineering Equal Employment Opportunity Facilities Management Horticultural Services Music Personnel Procurement and Contracts Protection Services Retail Operations Computer-aided Design and Drafting Property Management
The office of the Administrator comprises approximately 600 staff, with an annual operating budget of approximately $110 million (2016) and special multi-year funding for major construction projects. Recent accomplishments include Exterior rehabilitation of the Gallery s East Building (completed): I served as a senior technical expert and advisor for architectural concrete on the $84 million multi-year project. Gallery Plaza North (completed) and Andrew W. Mellon Memorial Fountain (in progress): $7 million renovation of two prominent sites along Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC. Policy: I develop and maintain the Gallery s high-level, permanent policy statements. Policy topics include fire and life safety, physical and IT security, equal employment opportunity, personnel, privacy, travel, and procurement. Urban and land-use planning: I represent the Gallery s interests to other local agencies, such as the US Commission of Fine Arts, National Park Service, and National Capital Planning Commission. National Park Service, US Department of the Interior, Washington, DC 1. Assistant Director, Cultural Resources (1999-2005) 2. Manager, National Center for Cultural Resources (1999-2005) 3. Chief Appeals Officer, Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives (1999-2005) 4. Manager, National NAGPRA (1999-2002, 2003-2004) 5. Chief, Historic American Buildings Survey (2005) 1. Assistant Director, Cultural Resources: I served as a senior advisor to the National Park Service Directorate for strategic planning; developing and implementing policy; and representing the National Park Service to national and international partner agencies and organizations, and at Congressional committee hearings. 2. Manager, National Center for Cultural Resources: The center guided and assisted cultural resource preservation throughout the United States. I managed approximately 180 employees, an annual operating budget of over $18 million (2005), and an annual grants budget of approximately $80 million (2005). 3. Chief Appeals Officer, Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives: Owners and developers may receive substantial Federal income tax credits for rehabilitating income-producing historic properties in conformance with national historic preservation standards. As Chief Appeals Officer, I heard final appeals from applicants who were denied tax credits, and made binding IRS decisions on whether projects were eligible for tax credits. 4. Manager, National NAGPRA: The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 (NAGPRA) established a process for repatriating human remains and cultural objects from public and private collections to descendants, Native American tribes, and Native Hawaiian Organizations. I was responsible for establishing and developing an independent National NAGPRA program, and served twice as manager of the program and designated Federal official for the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review Committee, a citizen advisory committee. Résumé John Robbins Page 2
5. Chief, Historic American Buildings Survey: I was responsible for the survey s overall direction and development, and for supervising the full-time staff and summer documentation crews deployed throughout the United States. Accomplishments include Publications: I led a re-consideration and re-design of the National Center for Cultural Resource s print and online publications to improve outreach to the center s large and diverse constituencies. NAGPRA o I established a stand-alone program for implementing the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act nationwide. o I worked with senior officials representing Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, museums, and Federal agencies to develop credibility, and to resolve sensitive repatriation issues and conflicts. Diversity: I established the first stand-alone budget for a National Park Service initiative to foster a diverse cadre of professionals in all cultural resource disciplines. Partnerships: I represented the National Park Service to major national and international cooperating and partner organizations. Congressional and government relations: I testified at Congressional hearings as an expert on controversial topics such as heritage areas, NAGPRA, historic lighthouses, and sacred sites. National Park Service, US Department of the Interior, Natchitoches, LA Executive Director, National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (1994-1999) The National Center for Preservation Technology and Training was established in 1994 to create, improve, and disseminate technologies for the conservation and preservation of buildings, structures, monuments, and art and artifact collections. The center supports research, training, and digital resources through in-house projects, grants, and partnerships with government agencies, nonprofits, and universities. As the center s first executive director, I established and developed the new center through Strategic planning: In collaboration with an advisory board, I established the center s mission and short- and long-term goals, and developed and implemented annual budgets and workplans towards achieving the goals. Outreach: I developed partners and support at all levels of the public and private sectors throughout the United States, developed a unique grants program for technical innovation and technology transfer, and developed a technical publications program. Congressional and government relations: I worked with Congressional committee staff and privatesector supporters to secure and increase funding for the center. Résumé John Robbins Page 3
John Robbins Architects, Oxford, MS Principal (1988-1994) In 1988, I founded a general practice firm with emphases on new construction, community planning, and building conservation. Principal projects included J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA: 1988-1998, I was consulting project architect for the design and construction of the Decorative Arts Galleries at the new J. Paul Getty Museum. Celebration, FL: I was part of the initial planning team for a new town developed by the Disney Development Company near Orlando, FL. Robbins served as an expert on period design prototypes, and design and construction guidelines. The Office of Thierry W. Despont, New York, NY Senior Associate (1986-1988) I was a senior architect in a practice that focused on large-scale residential and building preservation projects in the United States and overseas. Principal projects included Frick Art & Historical Center: I was project architect for the preservation and redevelopment of Clayton, the Pittsburgh, PA, estate of the industrialist and art connoisseur Henry Clay Frick, as a public museum. Projects included master and strategic planning for the complex; restorations of the main house, playhouse, carriage house, and the historic landscape; and new accommodations for visitors. National Park Service, Denver, CO; Tucson, AZ; New York, NY Architect (1976-1986) I was responsible for building conservation projects in Massachusetts, Wyoming, Alaska, Arizona, New York, and New Jersey. Principal projects included Lowell National Historical Park: Lowell, Massachusetts s water, immigrant families, and early female factory workers powered textile mills and the United States s industrial revolution. I was part of the initial planning team that discovered and documented the primary properties associated with the park s core themes. Statue of Liberty and Liberty Island: In 1983-1986, I was the National Park Service s project architect for the restoration of the Statue of Liberty and Liberty Island at Statue of Liberty National Monument, New York, NY. I was a principal project advisor on preservation treatments and techniques for the statue, collaborated with consulting architects and engineers on visitor accommodations within the statue and throughout the island, and collaborated with landscape architects on rehabilitating Liberty Island. Private consulting Client: Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, Riverdale MD. Wilmer s Park, Brandywine, MD: A rare rural venue on the Chitlin Circuit, active 1950s-1980s. Status: Conditions assessment completed 2015; preservation plan in progress. Résumé John Robbins Page 4
Surratt House, Clinton, MD: Home of Mary Surratt, convicted as a co-conspirator with John Wilkes Booth and others of plotting to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln. Status: Conditions assessment completed 2016; National Register documentation in progress. Abraham Hall, Beltsville, MD: A rare rural fraternal lodge Rebecca Lodge No. 6 of the Benevolent Sons and Daughter of Abraham established by former coal-mine slaves in the late-19th-century period between Reconstruction and Jim Crow. Status: Conditions assessment completed 2016. Education University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, Bachelor of Architecture University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS, Graduate studies in the history of art Fellowship Richard Morris Hunt Prize (inaugural laureate): A traveling fellowship in France for historic preservation practitioners, awarded by the American Architectural Foundation and French Heritage Society. Certification and licenses Certified, National Council of Architectural Registration Boards Licensed architect in New Jersey (active) and Mississippi (inactive) Community service College Bound, Washington, DC (partner/mentor, 2012-present): College Bound mentors help 8th- to 12th-grade metropolitan DC public school students who would like to attend college, but need strong encouragement and direction. Publications Frazier, Ian. "The Statue of Liberty s Beguiling Green." The New Yorker, September 19, 2016 (extensive quotes), http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/09/19/the-statue-of-libertys-beguiling-green. Editor (2000-2005): Common Ground Preserving Our Nation s Heritage (quarterly magazine) and CRM: The Journal of Heritage Stewardship (semiannual peer-reviewed journal), published by the National Park Service s National Center for Cultural Resources. Statue of Liberty: Renovations on its 125th Anniversary, Preservation Architect (American Institute of Architect, Washington, DC), May 2013 (co-author, Michael J. Mills), www.aia.org/akr/resources/documents/aiab098993. Micropolitan: A New Statistical Tool for Preservationists (research report), CRM: The Journal of Heritage Stewardship, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp 90-96, 2005. Résumé John Robbins Page 5
Liquid Stone: New Architecture in Concrete (exhibit review), CRM: The Journal of Heritage Stewardship, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp 121-123, 2005. The Consequences of Past Stonecleaning Intervention on Future Policy and Resources, Maintenance and Repair of Cleaned Stone Buildings, and Building Stones of Scotland (book reviews), CRM: The Journal of Heritage Stewardship, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp 127-129, 2004. West India Goods Store (Salem Maritime National Historic Site), Historic Structure Report, Architectural Data. US Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Denver Service Center, 1997. Removal of Interior Coatings at the Statue of Liberty (article), Association of Preservation Technology Bulletin, Vol. XVI, Nos. 3 and 4, pp 63-65, 1987 (co-author, Frances Gale). Fort Bowie National Historic Site, Historic Structures Report, Ruins Stabilization, Architectural Data. US Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Denver Service Center, 1983. Résumé John Robbins Page 6