7/27/2019 Robert Silman to be Honored at APT International Conference

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APT is a cross-disciplinary, membership organization dedicated to promoting the best technology for conserving historic structures and their settings. APT

members, who hail from more than 30 countries, include preservationists, architects, engineers, conservators, consultants, contractors, crafts persons,

curators, developers, educators, historians, landscape architects, students, technicians, and other persons directly involved in the application of methods

and materials to maintain, conserve, and protect historic structures and sites for future use and appreciation. For more information, visit www.apti.org.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR MORE INFORMATION

September 18, 2013 Lisa at marketing@apti.org or 217/331-2926

ROBERT SILMAN TO RECEIVE TOP PRESERVATIONIST AWARD AT INTERNATIONAL

CONFERENCE IN NEW YORK CITY

Founder of Robert Silman Associates Structural Engineers will receive APT's Harley J. McKee Award

SPRINGFIELD, IL - On Sunday, October 13, the Association for Preservation Technology International (APT) will bestow

Robert Silman of Robert Silman Associates Structural Engineers with its highest honor, the Harley J. McKee Award,

during its 45th Conference, "Preserving the Metropolis," at the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square. The

award recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the field of preservation technology.

"Selecting Bob for this award was easy for me. He has worked tirelessly for 50 years providing innovative structuralrepairs to historic buildings. He is a teacher who shares his knowledge generously, and his pioneering solutions have

changed the way engineers approach preservation projects in the United States," said Joan C. Berkowitz, President of

APT. "On top of that he is a really nice person."

APT will celebrate Mr. Silman's career at theAPT Tribute, from 7:3010:00 pm at the New York Public Library, 476 5th

Avenue, at 42nd Street. TheAPT Tribute is open to the public and tickets may be purchased separately from the

Conference registration at www.aptconference.org. The Tributeevent will also celebrate the new inductees to APTs

College of Fellows.

In 1966, Robert Silman founded his eponymous engineering firm in New York City. Today Robert Silman Associates

Structural Engineers employs a staff of more than 140 among its three offices in New York, NY, Washington, DC, and

Boston. RSA is a leader in the industry with regard to emerging technologies and concepts.

President for over 45 years, Mr. Silman built a firm noted for its collaborative work on many of the largest and most

noteworthy renovations and additions in this country, including The Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of

Immigration at Ellis Island, Frank Lloyd Wrights Fallingwater, Mount Vernon, the New York State Capitol, and The

Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine. The firm has also worked on several important international structures on

behalf of the World Monuments Fund.

Early on, the firm consulted on many rehabilitations of tenement buildings in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Brooklyn.

This extensive work on older structures provided a natural lead into RSA's work on historic structures, beginning with

Carnegie Hall in the early 1970s, a client with whom theyve continuously worked since that time. Landmark

legislation and guidelines were in their infancy then and members of the staff learned the necessary principles

through on-the-job experience. RSA has consulted on more than 400 registered landmark-designated buildings.

Today, work on historic structures accounts for approximately 20% of the practice's efforts.

Mr. Silman is a teacher who is knowledgeable about construction systems in the United States dating back to the

country's earliest building types. He shares his expertise with staff and students at several universities. On the basis of

http://www.apti.org/apt-2013-conference-new/special-events/#Tributehttp://www.apti.org/apt-2013-conference-new/special-events/#Tributehttp://www.apti.org/apt-2013-conference-new/special-events/#Tributehttp://c/Users/Stott/Documents/Lisa%20Biz/APT%20-%20Meeting%20Works/www.aptconference.orghttp://c/Users/Stott/Documents/Lisa%20Biz/APT%20-%20Meeting%20Works/www.aptconference.orghttp://c/Users/Stott/Documents/Lisa%20Biz/APT%20-%20Meeting%20Works/www.aptconference.orghttp://www.apti.org/apt-2013-conference-new/special-events/#Tribute

7/27/2019 Robert Silman to be Honored at APT International Conference

2/2

APT is a cross-disciplinary, membership organization dedicated to promoting the best technology for conserving historic structures and their settings. APT

members, who hail from more than 30 countries, include preservationists, architects, engineers, conservators, consultants, contractors, crafts persons,

curators, developers, educators, historians, landscape architects, students, technicians, and other persons directly involved in the application of methods

and materials to maintain, conserve, and protect historic structures and sites for future use and appreciation. For more information, visit www.apti.org.

his outstanding professional qualifications, the Secretary of the Interior appointed Mr. Silman to the Advisory Board

for the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training, for which he is past-Chairman, representing the

fields of engineering and preservation education.

Mr. Silman is also an international leader in the promotion of sustainable design and "green" building practices. As

early as 1975, RSA served as a consultant for a US Department of Energy study that investigated methods for reducing

not only operating energy consumption, but also embodied energy. The firm pioneered the use of Non-Destructive

Evaluation (NDE) techniques for existing and historic buildings, and has been at the forefront of sustainable design

strategies in new construction and restorations.

In association with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Friends of the National Center for Preservation

Technology and Training, Mr. Silman assisted in writing the Pocantico Proclamation on Historic Preservation and

Sustainability.

He is the recipient of many awards, including the 2009 AIA New York Chapter Award for his accomplishments in thefield of engineering and for his contributions to the built environment in the City of New York as well as the

prestigious Lucy G. Moses Preservation Leadership Award in 2010 from the New York Landmarks Conservancy.

A program of which Mr. Silman is very proud is the Robert Silman Fellow at the National Trust for Historic

Preservation. Each year one recent engineering graduate is selected to work on various restoration, rehabilitation,

and preservation projects at the 27 National Trust Historic Sites nationwide as a Robert Silman Fellow at the National

Trust for Historic Preservation. The Robert Silman Fellow is required to complete an article of benefit to the field of

historic preservation suitable for publication in a professional journal and for presentation at a conference. Upon

successful completion of the fellowship, the Robert Silman Fellow will be hired as a full-time employee of Robert

Silman Associates. Through this program, Mr. Silman continues to grow new structural engineers with a passion for

historic preservation.

Mr. Silman and his wife, author Roberta Silman, have three children and five grandchildren.

ABOUT THE HARLEY J. MCKEE AWARD

First presented in 1985, this award is named for the late Harley J. McKee (1905-1976), the second president of APT,

and a Professor of Architecture, most remembered for his 21 year teaching career at Syracuse University. From 1959

to 1966 he served as field supervisor of summer teams for the Historic American Buildings Survey, in 1968 compiling

his work and that of others into the text Recording Historic Buildings, first publishing in 1970. His 1973 book

Introduction to Early American Masonry, Stone, Brick, Mortar, and Plaster, published by the National Trust for Historic

Preservation, was the first to document the history and technology of those building materials in North America for apreservation audience. Visithttp://www.apti.org/about-apt/harley-j.-mckee-award/for a list of previous recipients.

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