Thomas D. Visser, Associate Professor & Director of Historic Preservation

• MS, Vermont 1986

Area of expertise

Historic Preservation

Contact Information

Email: Thomas Visser

Phone: (802) 656-0577

Office Hours, Location and Class Schedule

Thomas D. Visser serves as the director of the graduate program in historic preservation at the University of Vermont. He has taught courses at UVM since 1985 on such topics as historic preservation policy and planning, researching historic buildings, architectural conservation, history of American building technology, and other historic preservation topics.

Prof. Visser currently has served on the executive committee of the National Council for Preservation Education and on the board of advisers of The Preservation Education Institute. He has also served as a board member of Preservation Action and the Ruggles Foundation.  Locally, he has served as chair of the Burlington Design Review Board and the Burlington Historic Preservation Review Committee, and as a member of the Vermont District 4 Environmental (Act 250) Commission. At the University of Vermont, he has served as chair of the Faculty Senate Financial and Physical Planning Committee, and as a member of the Faculty Senate Executive Council and the Campus Master Planning Committee.

As a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts grant award, much of Thomas Visser's scholarly research has focused on the preservation of vernacular architecture. His award-winning Field Guide to New England Barns and Farm Buildings was published by the University Press of New England. In addition to completing nearly two hundred professional report contract projects and nominations to the National Register of Historic Places, Visser's articles and works are published in such journals as the Bulletin of the Association for Preservation Technology, Preservation Education & Research, Vermont History and New England Quarterly. He leads professional workshops and speaks regularly to preservation organizations and historical societies on a variety of preservation topics, including historic barns, building preservation technology, and the history of porches.

Faculty

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