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Center for the Preservation of Modernism

Steering Committee

Composed of faculty in the College of Architecture & the Built Environment, the Steering Committee works in collaboration with the Director to actualize strategic projects and advance the mission of the Center for the Preservation of Modernism.

Suzanne Singletary, PhD

Director, MS Historic Preservation and Center for the Preservation of Modernism, Professor, History & Theory, Archival Research, Historic Preservation

Suzanne Singletary teaches the history and theory of historic preservation, architecture and design. She has been involved in the development of the History of Architecture and Interiors series and taught seminars in thesis research and preparation, photography and visual culture, and contemporary architecture. As Director of the Master of Science in Historic Preservation and the Center for the Preservation of Modernism, Dr. Singletary teaches courses on critical issues in preservation and the restoration and rehabilitation of modern and mid-century modern buildings and sites. Currently she also serves as Associate Dean for New Academic Initiatives and Graduate Studies.

Committee Members

Suzanna Barucco, MA

Adjunct Professor, Historic Preservation Planning

Suzanna Barucco has 25 years’ experience in all aspects of preservation practice and has been involved in the restoration and interpretation of many regional historic resources, including house museums, institutions, cemetery landscapes, and the adaptive reuse of industrial sites. She is the principal of sbk + partners, LLC, a historic preservation consulting practice.  

David M. Breiner, PhD

Associate Dean and Associate Professor, History and Theory, Historic Preservation

David Breiner teaches Historic Preservation seminars such as Archival Research, American Architecture and Vernacular Architecture. His research interests include architecture and urbanism in the United States and Italy and the pedagogy of teaching architectural history. These are reflected in his publications on topics such as the New York firm of Heins & LaFarge, Renaissance architect Vincenzo Scamozzi, and the role of service learning. During his tenure at the Landmarks Preservation Commission in New York City, he wrote designation reports for many significant neighborhoods and buildings, including the Seagram Building and Guggenheim Museum.

Grace Ong Yan, PhD

Assistant Professor, History & Theory, Archival Research, Modernism, Historic Preservation

Grace Ong Yan is an interior design and architectural historian and accomplished interior and architectural design professional. Her research interests include branding and interdisciplinary exchange, corporate modernism, histories of modernism, and the emergence of media culture in design. As an educator committed to innovative design, scholarship, and research, she brings eighteen years of teaching experience in the history and theory of interior design and architecture. Professionally, she has worked at offices of Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Pei, Cobb, Freed and Partners and at Gensler’s New York branding studio. Her scholarship has also been published in several journals including in the series Companion to the History of Architecture, Volume IV, Twentieth-Century Architecture (Wiley Blackwell), and the journal Design and Culture, The Journal of the Design Studies Forum (Berg). Professor Ong Yan is a current member of the board of directors, and the past chapter president of Docomomo US/Greater Philadelphia.

Kevin T. King, Jr., Assoc. AIA

Kevin King is an architectural designer and project manager and a 2018 graduate of Jefferson's Architecture program with a minor in Historic Preservation. While at Jefferson, he worked contemporaneously on an architectural thesis, a net-zero energy elementary school in Sharswood and an adaptive reuse capstone transforming an historic Philadelphia church into a boutique hotel. His professional interests lie in this marriage of sustainability and preservation. Professionally, he has worked in the offices of Michael Graves prior to his current position at Voith & Mactavish Architects in Philadelphia where he manages preservation, renovation, and new construction projects from concept through closeout. In addition to the board of the Center for the Preservation of Modernism, Kevin serves on the DEI Committee of Jefferson's College of Architecture and the Built Environment as well as on the board of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, to which he was recently elected Board Secretary.

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