People
Before joining the Conservancy, Barbara spent more than 20 years at the Chicago Architecture Foundation (1994–2015), where she led its nationally-acclaimed adult public programs, including the celebrated docent program, and helped shape Chicago’s reputation as a global center for architectural education. She has also contributed her expertise as a board member of Glessner House (serving as President), Pleasant Home Foundation (Secretary), and the Chicago Bungalow Association.
Since stepping into her role at the Conservancy, Barbara has led high-impact advocacy initiatives that have safeguarded notable Wright sites across the country. Under her leadership, the Conservancy was instrumental in protecting the Booth Cottage (Glencoe, Illinois), Bagley House (Hinsdale, Illinois), Price Tower (Bartlesville, Oklahoma), the Waller Apartments and the Walser House (Chicago, Illinois). She kept the complex revision process for the World Heritage nomination of The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright organized and moving forward, working alongside a dedicated team whose efforts led to the 2019 UNESCO inscription of eight Wright sites.
During her tenure, the Conservancy has also significantly expanded the number of Wright buildings protected in perpetuity through preservation easements—adding the Hoffman House (Rye, New York), Henderson House (Elmhurst, Illinois), Glasner House (Glencoe, Illinois), DeRhodes House (South Bend, Indiana), the David & Gladys Wright House (Phoenix, Arizona) and the Weisblat House (Galesburg, Michigan).
Barbara holds a bachelor’s degree in education from Loyola University Chicago and a master’s degree in adult education from National Louis University Chicago.
Her passion for Wright’s work began early: her very first encounter with a Wright building was the Home and Studio in Oak Park—at age 19.
Prior to the Conservancy, Susan earned her Ph.D. in music history at the University of California, Berkeley. She worked as a Lecturer at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is a former Social Science Research Council fellow. Her other previous work includes fundraising and administration for the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum. She is also the past recipient of awards from Fulbright Austria and the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD).
Susan has a master’s degree in music history from Northwestern University and an undergraduate degree in vocal performance from Belmont University.
The first Wright building Susan ever experienced was the Guggenheim Museum in New York at age 20.
Glenn is delighted to serve all those dedicated to the preservation of Wright’s works through the community-focused methodology he developed over the course of an award-winning career spanning the public relations, event planning and professional community-building arenas.
He has a bachelor's degree in public relations from Oklahoma State University.
The first Wright building Glenn ever experienced was not the one he currently lives in, but rather the Kalita Humphreys Theater in Dallas, Texas.
He led the Conservancy's first-ever online conference in 2020 and hybrid conferences in 2021 and 2022. He helped inaugurate regular online programming, as well as the Wright Virtual Visits series produced in collaboration with Wright public sites, for which he received a Wright Spirit Award in 2021. His role shifted away from major in-person events in 2024, though he continues to manage online programs. He oversees the Conservancy's communications, including website, social media, email marketing, and media outreach, and serves as managing editor of SaveWright magazine.
Before his time at the Conservancy, he spent six years at the Chicago Architecture Foundation, ultimately managing the citywide architecture festival Open House Chicago. Prior to to that, he worked at the University of Chicago for six years, variously assisting an academic research project, helping the alumni association launch shared interest affinity groups, and managing a fellowship program for students seeking public interest careers. He is a member of the Jackson Park Advisory Council board, and a passionate advocate for parks, historic preservation, high-quality urbanism, and active transportation. He is also a freelance photographer focusing on architecture and the built environment, with photos featured in a color insert in the recent fourth edition of the AIA Guide to Chicago.
Eric earned an associate's degree from Bard College at Simon's Rock in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and, from the University of Chicago, a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's degree in the social sciences with a focus on urban politics and sociology.
The first Wright building that Eric ever saw was the Robie House, though he is embarrassed that it took him three years of walking or biking by it almost every day before he got around to taking a tour.
Among John’s accomplishments at the Conservancy, he initiated the creation of the building database. Through this database, the organization is able to track the preservation status of Wright buildings, including modifications to structures, ownership histories and other useful information. John has traveled to over 200 properties to meet with building stewards and discuss issues relating to the preservation of Wright’s work.
Before joining the Conservancy, John was a project architect at VOA Associates in Chicago. He also worked for Benjamin Thompson Associates in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He formerly co-directed the Victorian Society in America Chicago Summer School and still lectures for the summer school. His independent research has focused on Bruce Goff, H.H. Richardson, and Marion Mahony & Walter Burley Griffin. He is a past board member of Glessner House and continues his involvement there as a member of its House and Collections Committee. He has also been a docent at the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio and the Gamble House in Pasadena, California.
John has a bachelor of arts degree in American studies, concentrating in architectural history, from the University of Michigan, and a master of architecture from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is a registered architect in the State of Illinois.
The first Wright building John ever experienced was the Guggenheim Museum at the age of nine. He still has a very vivid memory of looking up into its central skylight!
Scott W. Perkins
President
Senior Director of Preservation & Collections, Fallingwater
Scott’s first exposure to Wright's architecture was of the Duey and Julia Wright house in his hometown of Wausau, Wisconsin, when he was about ten or eleven years old...a 1958 Usonian with a circular living room and pyramid ceiling! It was something he had never seen before but laid the groundwork for his curiosity and love for Wright's work.
Katherine Seale
First Vice President
Former Executive Director, Preservation Dallas
Former Chair, Dallas Landmarks Commission
Ronald P. Duplack
Second Vice President
Partner, Rieck and Crotty, PC
Cynthia M. Jacob
Secretary
Cultural heritage and preservation law
Retired partner, Fisher & Phillips LLP
Growing up in suburban Highland Park, Illinois, Cynthia was first introduced to the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright as a young child, thanks to her parents, who with admiration pointed out the Willits House, the Millard House, and the Adams House, all in Highland Park, all near the beach and each other. Thereafter, they “found†several more Wright buildings in River Forest and Oak Park during intervals in tennis tournaments in which she competed.
George Meyer
Treasurer
Retired Vice President & General Manager
Morlin Asset Management, LP
Los Angeles Union Station
Over his career, he has held positions with property management companies at major commercial developments in Los Angeles County, Orange County, Silicon Valley and San Francisco. Meyer oversaw the restoration and operations of the 1926 Russ Building in San Francisco’s Financial District, a landmark 32-story Neo-Gothic office tower and, in Los Angeles, the building many recognize as “Nakatomi Plaza†from the movie Die Hard.
Meyer earned his bachelor of science in political science at Juniata College in Pennsylvania. He previously served on the board of directors of the Building Owners and Managers Association of Greater Los Angeles and in Hollywood, served the community on the Hollywood Business Improvement District and the Hollywood Police Activities League.
While George doesn’t remember the first Wright building he saw, the one that cemented his admiration for Frank Lloyd Wright was Taliesin West, for the remarkable connections Wright made in the desert environment.
Liz Allen
Executive Committee Member At Large
Owner, E. Fay Jones Sequoyah Project
Years ago, not long out of college and living in Chicago, a co-worker suggested that Liz might enjoy taking in that spring’s Wright Plus house walk in Oak Park. She still remembers the thrill of visiting Unity Temple, a work she had only recently studied in an architecture class. She was hooked – and still is.
Richard Longstreth
Executive Committee Member At Large
Retired Director of the Graduate Program in Historic Preservation, George Washington University
Ted Muntz
Executive Committee Member At Large
Owner, Lovness Estate
Retired Business Executive
After selling his business ownership interests, he and his wife, Debi, acquired the Frank Lloyd Wright Lovness Estate in Stillwater, Minnesota, and began several years-long renovation and construction projects on the property. Their deep appreciation for Wright's architecture came from childhood experiences at Eagle Point Park in their hometown of Dubuque, Iowa. The park was populated with several Prairie-style pavilions and complementary landscaping built during the Depression with WPA money by Wright acolyte Alfred Caldwell, the city's Park Superintendent.
Even having grown up near Taliesin, their first actual experiences of genuine Wright buildings occurred as young adults; for Ted, the Price Tower; for Debi, Fallingwater.
Safina Uberoi
Executive Committee Member At Large
International documentary filmmaker
Co-Owner, Tonkens House and Frederick C. Bagley House
Michael Desmond, PhD
Retired Professor of Architecture & Director of Graduate Studies, College of Art + Design, Louisiana State University
Audra Dye
Planner/Architectural Historian, City of Detroit
Jennifer Gray, PhD
Director of the Taliesin Institute, Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation
Justin Gunther
Director, Fallingwater
Vice President, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
Jeffrey Herr
Retired Curator
Hollyhock House and Simon Rodia’s Towers in Watts
Patrick Mahoney, AIA, NCARB
Architect, Lauer Manguso
John Matteo, PE FAAR
Principal, Matteo Ferran Structural Engineers
Lecturer in Civil & Systems Engineering, Johns Hopkins University
Having grown up outside of New York City, the first Wright building John saw, perhaps driving by speedily in a yellow taxi, was the Guggenheim Museum. The expressive concrete form was clearly unique in the city. He followed up not too long after, still in his high school years, with a visit to the museum to see the art on the walls, and the art of the architecture.
Greg Maxwell, AIA, APT, NCARB
Preservation Architect, John G. Waite Associates, Architects
Greg’s family took a trip to Phoenix in February 2005 and his dad made them all go see Taliesin West. Greg remembers thinking, "Frank Lloyd Who?" When he got to the site he was amazed, and thrilled to have had such an influential experience with his family.
Daniel R. Nichols, AIA
Architect, Ragan Design Group
Owner, Sweeton House
Janet Parks
Retired Curator of Drawings and Archives, Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University
Ayad Rahmani
Professor of Architecture, Washington State University
Heidi Ruehle
Non-Profit Executive
Former Executive Director, Unity Temple Restoration Foundation
While studying Interior Design, a field trip to the Robie House instantly captivated Heidi, sparking a deep and lifelong appreciation for Wright's innovative Prairie School aesthetic.
Ron Scherubel
Retired Executive Director, Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy
Retired Vice President and General Counsel, Sara Lee Foods
John Shyer
Retired Attorney, Latham & Watkins LLP
Co-Owner, Brandes House
His first encounters with Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture occurred as a young person in New York City – first at the Guggenheim Museum, and later, upon the installation of the Little House room at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In each case, he felt a strong affinity with the design, arising from the dynamism and humanity of the spaces, which resulted in a lifelong interest in Wright's work.
Ilene R. Tyler
Architect, Author, Preservationist
Former Director of Preservation, Quinn Evans Architects
Lynda Waggoner
Director Emerita, Fallingwater
Marta Wojcik
Executive Director & Curator, Westcott House
Our Board
Executive Committee
-
Scott W. Perkins
President
Senior Director of Preservation & Collections, Fallingwater
-
Katherine Seale
First Vice President
Former Executive Director, Preservation Dallas
Former Chair, Dallas Landmarks Commission -
Ronald P. Duplack
Second Vice President
Partner, Rieck and Crotty, PC
-
Cynthia M. Jacob
Secretary
Cultural heritage and preservation law
Retired partner, Fisher & Phillips LLP -
George Meyer
Treasurer
Retired Vice President & General Manager
Morlin Asset Management, LP
Los Angeles Union Station -
Liz Allen
Executive Committee Member At Large
Owner, E. Fay Jones Sequoyah Project
-
Richard Longstreth
Executive Committee Member At Large
Retired Director of the Graduate Program in Historic Preservation, George Washington University
-
Ted Muntz
Executive Committee Member At Large
Owner, Lovness Estate
Retired Business Executive -
Safina Uberoi
Executive Committee Member At Large
International documentary filmmaker
Co-Owner, Tonkens House and Frederick C. Bagley House
Directors At Large
-
Michael Desmond, PhD
Retired Professor of Architecture & Director of Graduate Studies, College of Art + Design, Louisiana State University
-
Audra Dye
Planner/Architectural Historian, City of Detroit
-
Jennifer Gray, PhD
Director of the Taliesin Institute, Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation
-
Justin Gunther
Director, Fallingwater
Vice President, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy -
Jeffrey Herr
Retired Curator
Hollyhock House and Simon Rodia’s Towers in Watts -
Patrick Mahoney, AIA, NCARB
Architect, Lauer Manguso
-
John Matteo, PE FAAR
Principal, Matteo Ferran Structural Engineers
Lecturer in Civil & Systems Engineering, Johns Hopkins University -
Greg Maxwell, AIA, APT, NCARB
Preservation Architect, John G. Waite Associates, Architects
-
Daniel R. Nichols, AIA
Architect, Ragan Design Group
Owner, Sweeton House -
Janet Parks
Retired Curator of Drawings and Archives, Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University
-
Ayad Rahmani
Professor of Architecture, Washington State University
-
Heidi Ruehle
Non-Profit Executive
Former Executive Director, Unity Temple Restoration Foundation -
Ron Scherubel
Retired Executive Director, Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy
Retired Vice President and General Counsel, Sara Lee Foods -
John Shyer
Retired Attorney, Latham & Watkins LLP
Co-Owner, Brandes House -
Ilene R. Tyler
Architect, Author, Preservationist
Former Director of Preservation, Quinn Evans Architects -
Lynda Waggoner
Director Emerita, Fallingwater
-
Marta Wojcik
Executive Director & Curator, Westcott House
Emeritus Directors
-
Jack Holzhueter
Retired, Historian and Editor, Wisconsin Historical Society
-
Jack Quinan
Curator Emeritus, Darwin Martin House Restoration Corporation
Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, SUNY Buffalo -
Roland Reisley
Owner, Roland and Ronny Reisley House in Usonia, New York
-
Thomas Schmidt
Retired Vice President & Counsel, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy & Director, Fallingwater
Founding Board President, FLWBC 1990-1992
Honorary Director
-
Thomas Wright