Posted Apr. 23, 2008
PROVIDENCE – George Born, a New England native and Brown University graduate now living in Key West, will join the Providence Preservation Society as its executive director effective June 2, the PPS board announced.
“I am honored to be selected to lead PPS, an organization with a national reputation and a long track record of community support and success,” Born said in a statement. “I look forward to the challenges and opportunities of working in this dynamic environment – and I am delighted to return to New England and to Providence, which have a strong sense of place and are important touchstones in my life.”
Originally of New Hampshire and southern Maine, he has spent the past 12 years working with the Historic Florida Keys Foundation, where he was named executive director in 2005. During his tenure there, he has helped the group achieve recognition as a Local Partner of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He also has served as chairman of the City of Key West’s Historic Architecture Review Commission; has written a biweekly column, “On historic preservation,” for The Key West Citizen; and has published a selection of those essays in the 2007 book “Preserving Paradise: The Architectural Heritage and History of the Florida Keys,” from History Press.
Born previously worked in the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, D.C., and taught maritime history. After graduating from Brown, he earned a master’s degree in historic preservation from the University of Vermont. He also has pursued studies with the Victorian Society in America in Newport and at the Attingham Summer School in England.
He replaces Jack Gold, who departed Dec. 20 to accept a similar position with the prestigious San Francisco Architectural Heritage. (READ MORE) Victoria “Vicki” Veh, the nonprofit’s assistant treasurer and a trustee since 2001, will continue to serve as interim director until Born’s arrival.
The new director will be introduced to PPS members and friends during the organization’s Festival of Historic Houses, the preservation society said. The annual tour of historic properties is slated for the weekend of June 6 and 7.
Additional information about the Providence Preservation Society and its programs, including the annual PPS Festival of Historic Houses, is available at www.ppsri.org.
