CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION

Elizabeth Barlow Rogers @ CHQ 8/11/10, Amphitheater, 10:45 a.m.
Elizabeth Barlow Rogers is the president of the Foundation for Landscape Studies, a not-for-profit organization that aims to “foster an active understanding of the importance of place in human life.” A resident of New York City since 1964, Rogers was the first person to hold the title of Central Park administrator, a New York City Department of Parks & Recreation position created by Mayor Edward I. Koch in 1979. She was the founding president of the Central Park Conservancy, the public-private partnership created in 1980 to bring citizen support to the restoration and renewed management of Central Park. She served in both positions until 1996.

Rogers is a renowned teacher, lecturer, and writer on the subject of place and the preservation of living landscapes through good design and sound management practices. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the recipient of several awards for her work as a writer and landscape preservationist, including the American Society of Landscape Architects’ 2005 LaGasse Medal and the John Burroughs Medal for her book The Forests and Wetlands of New York City (a National Book Award nominee).

Rogers is also the author of Landscape Design: A Cultural and Architectural History, Frederick Law Olmsted’s New York, The Central Park Book and Rebuilding Central Park: A Management and Restoration Plan. She also co-authored East Hampton: A History and Guide. A native of San Antonio, Texas, she earned a bachelor’s degree in art history from Wellesley College and a master’s degree in city planning from Yale University.