Hyman “Hy” Myers, BArch’64, MArch’65, a nationally recognized architect and former lecturer in the Weitzman School’s graduate program in historic preservation, died on October 17, 2022 from respiratory failure. He was 80.

Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Myers grew up in West Oak Lane and graduated from Central High School in 1959. He then came to Penn, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering in 1964 and a master’s degree in architecture in 1965. He spent time in the Peace Corps and, in 1973, joined Vitetta Architects & Engineers, a renowned architecture firm. Until his retirement in 2008, Mr. Myers led Vitetta’s historic preservation program, in which he led the design development and documentation of projects involving the restoration, rehabilitation, and reuse of existing buildings, as well as planning and design of museum facilities. He lectured in Penn’s department of historic preservation for several decades, teaching the annual Theories of Historic Preservation course. In 1996, he led the restoration of the Morris Arboretum’s Dorrance H. Hamilton Fernery (Almanac June 18, 1996).

Mr. Myers was a passionate advocate for historic preservation in the public sphere. He helped spearhead the listing of a World Heritage Site, more than 60 National Historic Landmarks, over 60 listings on the National Register of Historic Places, and over 70 state and local landmarks, including the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the National Gallery of Art, and Pennsylvania’s Capitol Building in Harrisburg. Mr. Myers served as the president of action for Preservation Philadelphia and the Philadelphia-based Preservation Pennsylvania, board chair of the Bureau for Historic Preservation of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and on the designation committee of the Philadelphia Historical Commission. He was president of the Philadelphia chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians from 1972-1974 and was active in the Victorian Society in America and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Mr. Myers’ love for Victorian architecture extended into his personal life—he was an aficionado of Frank Furness (the architect of PAFA and Penn’s Fisher Fine Arts Building) and was an avid collector of Victorian furniture and memorabilia, often punching holes in walls of buildings he was working on to find hidden treasures. He was recognized widely for his service to the field, including the F. Otto Haas Award from Preservation Pennsylvania in 1992, the James Biddle Award for Lifetime Achievement of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia in 2009, the John Frederick Harbeson Award of the Philadelphia chapter of the AIA in 2013, and induction into the AIA College of Fellows in 2005.

He is survived by his wife, Sandra; his son, Benjamin; his sister, Sheila Bell; his niece, June Bell; and other relatives. Donations in his name may be made to the Victorian Society in America, 24 Wilkins Ave., Haddonfield, N.J. 08033, and the Jewish National Fund, 78 Randall Ave., Rockville Centre, N.Y. 11570.

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