Newsletter of the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University
For decades of contributions to historic preservation education, David Woodcock, professor of architecture at Texas A&M, received the James Marston Fitch Preservation Education Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Council for Preservation Education.
The award, presented Oct. 29 at the NCPE’s annual meeting in Austin, honors the memory of architect James Marston Fitch, who is widely revered as the father of historic preservation in the United States. A principal character in making the preservation of historic buildings practical, feasible and popular, Fitch’s writings and teachings helped transform historic preservation into a vigorous, broadly based cultural movement.
Woodcock, who joined the Texas A&M faculty in 1962, works in historic preservation, preservation technology, adaptive use and building conservation and interdisciplinary learning.
“David Woodcock’s distinguished career in the pursuit of excellence in heritage conservation and historic preservation education represents a building block in the foundation upon which the field of historic preservation is built," said Ted J. Ligibel, NCPE chairman. "His steadfast leadership in the preservation movement itself has truly earned him this honor."
Woodcock was the founding director of the Historic Resources Imaging Laboratory, now the Center for Heritage Conservation, at the Texas A&M College of Architecture. It was established in 1991 to train students, professionals and others in the use and application of imaging processes relative to historic and cultural resources, to develop new techniques for documentation, analysis, visualization and interpretation, and to apply imaging techniques to the study of historic resources.
He also created and developed the College of Architecture’s graduate certificate program in historic preservation, a series of courses integrated within a wide range of professional disciplines. The certificate, which has gained wide acclaim and serves as a model for other programs, is awarded each semester to Texas A&M graduates from diverse disciplines.
After leading the HRIL and CHC for 16 years, Woodcock stepped down from the director’s post and in 2009 was named director emeritus of the research center by Jorge Vanegas, dean of the college.
Since 1977, when Woodcock began offering formal coursework in the documentation and analysis of historic buildings, his students have consistently distinguished themselves in the national Charles E. Peterson Prize for the best set of drawings submitted to the Library of Congress through its Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record Program.
“It is nearly impossible to go to a preservation meeting and not run into someone who hasn’t either been taught by him directly or been influenced by him,” said Bob Warden, associate professor of architecture and current CHC director. “He brings a tremendous amount of notoriety to the college.”
A cursory glance at Woodcock’s network of former students now working on historic preservation projects throughout the country demonstrates, Warden said, how “the concepts and philosophies discussed in David’s classes turn into real decisions by real people doing real work in real places.”
The James Marston Fitch Preservation Education Lifetime Achievement Award will be the latest in a long line of honors garnered by Woodcock throughout his distinguished career. He is a fellow in the American Institute of Architects, the Society of Antiquaries of London and the Association for Preservation Technology International. In 2003, he received the Harley J. McKee Award, the most prestigious honor presented by the Association for Preservation Technology.
Woodcock is also a distinguished professor in the Association for Collegiate Schools of Architecture and a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects. In 1998, he received the Truett Latimer Award from Preservation Texas and the Edward J. Romieniec Award from the Texas Society of Architects, and in 1990 he earned a Silver Medal from the Tau Sigma Delta Alpha Alpha Chapter.
As recently as 2009, Woodcock earned a Student-Led Award for Teaching Excellence (SLATE) from The Texas A&M University System, an honor, that system chancellor Michael McKinney said, “recognizes teachers who go above and beyond student’s typical expectations to deliver a first-rate education.”
He had an active preservation practice in Canterbury from 1966 to 1970, working on buildings from the 14th to the 19th century. As a registered architect in Texas from 1982 to 2005, Woodcock completed a number of preservation projects and new commissions based on traditional forms.
He also consulted on a variety of preservation projects with other architects, and served on the client team for the redesign of Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site and the addition of its new visitors center. He continues to maintain a preservation consulting practice, currently including serving as chair of the advisory committee to Menokin, the 1769 home of Francis Lightfoot Lee in Warsaw, VA.
Woodcock earned a Diploma in Town and Country Planning from the University of Manchester, England, in 1966, a Certificate in Town and Country Planning from the University of Manchester in 1960 and a Bachelor of Architecture with first class honors from the University of Manchester in 1960.
Read David Woodcock’s comments upon receiving the 2010 James Marston Fitch Award from the National Council of Preservation Education.
- Posted: Nov. 15, 2010 -
Contact: Phillip Rollfing, prollfing@archone.tamu.edu or 979.458.0442.
