Fabio Grementieri, a world-renowned architect and architectural historian from Buenos Aires, Argentina, who has managed some of that countrys most famous historic preservation projects, will speak at West VirginiaUniversity Monday, Jan. 27.

“Cultural Challenges of Historic Preservation and the Heritage of the 19th and 20th Centuries”is the title of the 7:30 p.m. lecture/slide presentation in the Blaney Lecture Hall (Room G-11) of the LifeSciencesBuilding. The event, which includes a reception sponsored by WVU s College of Creative Arts and Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, is free and open to the public.

“We are pleased to join with the College of Creative Arts in bringing this extraordinary architect and historian to campus and the local community,”said M. Duane Nellis, dean of the EberlyCollege.”His numerous experiences in restoring world architectural treasures will certainly make for an unusual and enjoyable presentation.”

Grementieri is the inaugural speaker in a lecture series hosted by WVU s new Cultural Resources Management Program, a graduate-level, interdisciplinary certificate program that encompasses art history, historic preservation, Appalachian regional history, archaeology, curatorial practices, arts management, regional development, land-use policy and tourism, among other subjects.

The EberlyCollege is the administrative home of the program, and Gregory A. Good, associate professor of history, is the programs coordinator.

“Im very excited about this new program,”Good said.”Our state has such rich historical and archaeological resources. West Virginia still has what much of the country has lost and wants to regain. It is critical that we begin educating professionals who can help us preserve our heritage sites and help promote the economic development of the state in a way that will enhance the quality of life for our residents. The graduates of the new Cultural Resources Management Program will be the people who make this possible.”

Vivien Woofter, a distinguished WVU alumna, helped make Grementieris visit to Morgantown possible. She is director of the Interiors and Furnishings Division in the Office of Overseas Buildings Operations, U.S. Department of State, and collaborated with Grementieri on the historic restoration of the U.S. Ambassadors residence in Buenos Aires, BoschPalace, completed in 1999. She is personally responsible for the interiors and historic restoration of the ambassadors residences in Paris, London, Prague and Buenos Aires and the GeorgeC. MarshallCenter in the Hotel de Talleyrand in Paris.

Woofter was inducted into the WVU Academy of Distinguished Alumni in 1992 and was awarded a WVU Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters in 1998. She currently serves on the College of Creative ArtsBoard of Visitors and will speak with WVU students and faculty during a”brown bag”lunch the afternoon before the lecture.

“It is truly a great honor that the University and the citizens in West Virginia will have the opportunity to hear Fabio Grementieri,”Woofter said.

Grementieri, who is adviser on historic preservation to the National Secretary of Culture of Argentina, has been involved in many restoration projects in Buenos Aires and throughout the world, including BoschPalace.

The BoschPalace, an important architectural landmark and a symbol of Argentinas cultural heritage, was built by Ernesto Bosch and his wife, Elisa de Alvear, between 1912 and 1917, during Boschs tenure as the minister of foreign affairs of Argentina and after his return from Paris as Argentinas ambassador to France. The palace was designed by the French architect René Sergent, the most important representative of early 20th century French classicism. The U.S. government purchased the property in 1929.

Grementieri has published many articles and book chapters on architecture and architectural history and preservation, as well as on specific research projects. He also served as visiting scholar at the Getty Research Institute for the History of Art and the Humanities in Los Angeles and has lectured at numerous universities in the United States and throughout the world.

Free parking is available in Parking Area 10, near the corner of Beechurst Avenue and College Drive, adjacent to the Life Sciences Building. For more information, contact the College of Creative Arts at (304) 293-4841, ext. 3108.