Geography & Geology

With support from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, geography professors Andrew Nazarro and Marshall McLennan initiated the program’s first classes in the Fall of 1979. The program is a charter member of the National Council for Preservation Education, becoming a member in 1980, the year the organization was founded. Under Dr. McLennan’s direction, students carried out numerous local architectural surveys in the 1980s, focused mainly on rural vernacular architecture of the region, which was supported by matching grants from the Michigan Historical Center. A concentration in heritage interpretation was introduced in the Fall of 1981. Two years later, as University administrators considered demolishing Welch Hall and replacing it with a parking lot, historic preservation students and faculty prepared a rehabilitation plan and fought for the preservation of the building. The University rehabilitated Welch Hall in 1988–89 with the help of state funding. Through the efforts of the program, it is now listed in the National Register of Historic Places as part of a historic district that includes several other buildings on campus.

The program underwent phenomenal enrollment growth in the late 1980s and attained the American Association of State and Local History’s Certificate of Commendation in 1989. Its current director, Dr. Ted J. Ligibel, was added to the preservation faculty in 1991 and a new concentration in preservation planning was established. During a second period of growth, Professor Dan Bonenberger joined the faculty in 2008 and Professor Nancy Villa Bryk was added to the faculty in 2011. Dr. Matt Cook joined the faculty in Fall 2016. Adjuncts include prominent restoration architects and planners, the Michigan State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO), experienced buildings restorers and conservators, and directors of preservation organizations and agencies.

The program has evolved over the years, responding to the changing nature of the preservation movement, and its applied nature has remained paramount. The hallmark of the program has been its continued commitment to providing needed services to communities. The program has assisted over fifty Michigan and Ohio communities with:

• Surveys of their historic resources
• National and state register nominations
• Materials conservation, preservation and interpretive plans
• Numerous other preservation-based activities 

• Program Accolades 

  The HPP has received numerous awards over the years. These include the Historical Society of Michigan Award of Merit for innovative programming and the American Association of State and Local History’s (AASLH) coveted Certificate of Commendation for ten years of nationally-recognized performance within the field of historic preservation education.

  • In 1999, Preservation Wayne, the Detroit area’s leading preservation organization, presented the HPP with the Lucy Hamilton Education Award for contributions to historic preservation in Michigan.
  • In 1999, Program founder Dr. Marshall McLennan received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Michigan Historic Preservation Network (MHPN); he also received the prestigious James Marston Fitch Award from the National Council for Preservation Education in 2002.
  • In May 2018, Dr. Ted Ligibel received MHPN’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his devotion to Michigan’s historic preservation movement, for mentoring countless preservationists and for national recognition as a pioneering preservationist.
  • In 2004, the MHPN again honored the program, this time with its Educational-Institutional Award for twenty-five years of preservation education in Michigan.
  • EMU’s HPP is also a charter member of of NCPE, which is the national certifying body for historic preservation programs. The HPP has long-held ties with NCPE with Dr. Ligibel, serving as chair for four years, and on its executive committee for ten years. EMU’s Archives also hold the records of NCPE, going back to its inception in 1980.

• Our students are award winners as well.

  • Carol Mull, a 1998 HPP graduate, was honored with an Alumni Achievement Award in 2012 for her book on Michigan’s underground railroad.
  • Bill Click (2006), Tamara Click (2006) and Derek Spinei (2011) received Outstanding Alumni Awards.
  • In 2017, alumnus Steve Stier received the Michigan Historic Preservation Network’s Lifetime Achievement Award for barn preservation.
  • Eastern Michigan University's Graduate Program in Historic Preservation is pleased to note that Sarah Marsom, Class of 2013, was recognized by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as the recipient of the American Express Aspire Award during the 2018 National Preservation Awards, and as an honoree of the inaugural 40 Under 40: People Saving Place's list.
    Congratulations to Sarah-- we are so proud of your transformational work in Preservation!

• Our Graduate Students

  • Come from over a dozen states and a number of countries [PDF].
  • Maintain full- and part-time jobs while going to classes.
  • Are successful in getting jobs all over the country; our placement rate is usually around 75%.
  • May be eligible to become graduate assistants if they have outstanding credentials and experience.
  • Have assisted over fifty Michigan and Ohio communities with:
    • Surveys of their historic resources
    • National and State Register and historic marker nominations
    • Materials conservation, museum practice, and interpretive plans
    • Historic Structures Reports and Condition Assessments
    • Numerous other preservation-based activities
    • Inventoried, analyzed and documented the historical, cultural, tourism and recreational resources in these communities
    • Created interpretive tours and plans for EMU and historic sites
    • Devised artifact collecting policies and plans for museums and historic sites
  • Have been placed at:
    • Mount Vernon, The National Trust for Historic Preservation
    • Vizcaya (Miami)
    • The National Park Service
    • The Hawaii, Oregon, Ohio, and Michigan State Historic Preservation Offices
    • Main Street Programs in Wayne, Marshall, an Franklin, MI among others
    • Grand Traverse Lighthouse
    • The Historic Ford Estates (Edsel and Eleanor Ford and House and Fairlane)
    • The Henry Ford
    • The Detroit Institute of Arts
    • Cranbrook Museum of Art
    • The Toledo Museum of Art
    • As directors of Historic Preservation Graduate Programs at Ball State University and the University of Utah
  • Have a very robust student organization, Preservation Eastern (PE). Taking part in Preservation Eastern activities allows members to gain valuable practical experience in the many different areas of the historic preservation field.