Dr. David B. Brownlee,
professor and chair of the department
of the history of art, has been named the first Frances Shapiro-Weitzenhoffer
Professor of 19th Century European Art.
After completing an A.B.
at Harvard University, Dr. Brownlee remained there to earn
his A.M. and Ph.D. A member of the history of art department
faculty here since 1980, Dr. Brownlee was promoted to full
professor in 1993. Prior to his appointment as department
chair last year, Dr. Brownlee served as the department's
undergraduate chairman from 1984 to 1989 and as chairman
of the graduate group in the history of art from 1991 to
1997. He remains a member of the latter and is a member of
the graduate group in architecture and the program faculty
in historic preservation as well.
Dr. Brownlee, who teaches
undergraduate and graduate courses on 18th, 19th, and 20th
century architecture and urbanism, was recognized with a
College Alumni Society Outstanding Teaching Award in 1997,
and a Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Award for Distinguished
Teaching in 2001. His commitment to the University includes
service on over 120 academic committees such as Design Review,
Cultural Resources, and the building committee for the ongoing
renovation of the College Houses, which he currently co-chairs.
Dr. Brownlee oversaw the design and implementation of the
successful College House system and was its first director
from 1998 to 2002. He has served as the faculty master at
Harnwell College House since 1998.
A scholar of international
distinction, Dr. Brownlee is the only winner of all three
major publications prizes of the American Society of Architectural
Historians and is the only American to win the book prize
of its British counterpart. He has also received honors such
as a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship and a senior fellowship at
the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts at the National
Galley of Art.
Dr. Brownlee is currently
at work on his tenth book, Modern Means and Modern Meanings:
An Intellectual and Social History of Nineteenth-century
Architecture. His earlier publications include
prize-winning books, Louis I. Kahn and The Law
Courts, as well as a comprehensive architectural history
of Penn, Building America's First University: An
Historical and Architectural Guide to the University of Pennsylvania, with George
E. Thomas.
Dr. Brownlee has been the
guest curator of several international traveling exhibitions
including last year's, Out of the Ordinary: Robert
Venturi, Denise Scott Brown and Associations: Architecture,
Urbanism, and Design. He has served on the board of directors
and the executive committee of the Society of Architectural
Historians and was a member of the Philadelphia Historical
Commission for 15 years.
This endowed chair was created
in 1992 by the late Dr. David Shapiro, GM '47, in memory
of his daughter, Dr. Frances Shapiro-Weitzenhoffer. Dr. Shapiro-Weitzenhoffer,
CW '65, was a distinguished art historian, editor, and
specialist in Impressionist painting. |