HAVE WE LEARNED ANYTHING FROM KATRINA?
Alliance for Response Forum Update
Presented by the Cultural Emergency Management Team (CEMT)
December 16, 2005
SPEAKER PROFILES
Arthur Beale is Chair Emeritus of Conservation and Collections Management at the Museum of
Fine Arts, Boston. His career as a conservator spans forty years since his education at Brandeis
and Boston Universities. He received his apprentice training in conservation at Harvard's Fogg
Art Museum where he worked for twenty years, becoming Director of the Center for Conservation and Technical Studies (now the Straus Center for Conservation). He was also Senior
Lecturer on Fine Arts at Harvard and helped develop the formal post-graduate training
programs at the Harvard University Art Museums and at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Mr. Beale was founding Chairman of the Board and Council of the National Institute for
Conservation (now Heritage Preservation). He is a Fellow of both the International and
American Institutes for Conservation. He held a Presidential appointment to the National
Museum Services Board for six years until 1995. In that same year, Mr. Beale was named the
first recipient of the University Products, Inc., award for distinguished achievement in the field
of conservation. He has lectured widely and published on a variety of subjects including the
preservation of outdoor statuary, the technical and authentication examination of objects, and
environmental control methods.
Bernard Margolis became the first president of the nation’s first public library system in 1997.
In his post, Mr. Margolis oversees the operation of the sixth largest library system in the
country, which consists of the Research Library and the Central Library in Copley Square, the
Edward Kirstein Business Library in the downtown business district, and 27 branch libraries
located throughout Boston’s neighborhoods. With a collection of over 32 million items, the BPL
is the largest public research library in New England. Before coming to Boston, Mr. Margolis
served as the director of Colorado’s Pikes Peak Library District, director of Michigan’s Monroe
County Library System, director of the Southeast Michigan Regional Film Library, and director
of Southern Michigan’s Raisin Valley Library System. Mr. Margolis is serving his fourth elected
term on the Governing Council of the 63,000-member American Library Association (ALA), and
has served in a variety of Association positions. His many awards include “Colorado Librarian
of the Year,” two John Cotton Dana library public relations awards, and the Kennedy Center
for the Performing Arts’ “Award of Excellence” for his library-sponsored “Imagination
Celebration.” Mr. Margolis received an M.A. in Librarianship and a B.S. in Political Science
from the University of Denver.
Sara Wolf is Director of the Northeast Museum Services Center of the National Park Service.
The Center provides technical support to museum collections in parks from Maine to southern
Virginia. Ms. Wolf joined the Park Service in 2000 after a 24-year career as a museum conservator working at The Textile Museum, the National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian),
the Texas Memorial Museum, and the national museum of Fiji. She is a Fellow of the American
Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works and has twice received Fulbright
research fellowships. Ms. Wolf was a first responder to hurricane Isabel in 2003 and has formed
a Cultural Resources Emergency Response Team for response to disasters in the National Park
Service. She was the first cultural resources specialist to be included as part of the Type I,
National Incident Management Team for response to hurricane Katrina.
Jane S. Long is founding director of the Heritage Emergency National Task Force, an initiative
of the nonprofit Heritage Preservation and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The
program helps museums, libraries, archives, and historic sites protect their collections from
disasters. She is also co-author of Heritage Preservation’s latest book, Caring for Your Family
Treasures (Harry N. Abrams, 2000). Ms. Long has served as assistant director of the National
Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Property, special projects coordinator for the
President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, and executive director of the
Foundation for Public Affairs. A native of Ohio, she received a B.A. degree from the College
of Wooster and an M.A. from the University of Chicago.
Peter Judge serves as the public information officer for the Massachusetts Emergency
Management Agency (MEMA). He initially joined the agency to develop and coordinate the
Commonwealth’s public education campaign regarding “Y2K Preparedness.” His responsibilities include ensuring that the public receives accurate and timely information, precautions,
and instructions concerning impending and occurring disasters and emergencies. He takes the
lead as the Agency’s media spokesman and assists in the coordination and presentation of a
consistent message at the Joint Information Center (JIC) during large multi-agency/multijurisdictional events. Prior to joining MEMA, Mr. Judge worked for 12 years in education and
17 years in sports marketing and management. The Boston native earned Bachelor of Arts
degrees in both History and Education from Boston College and a Master of Education degree
in School Administration from Boston State College.
Lori Foley is Director of Field Service for the Northeast Document Conservation Center in
Andover, Massachusetts. She manages NEDCC’s ongoing education and outreach activities,
including surveys; workshops, seminars, online courses, and conferences; reference service;
publications; and disaster assistance – in the New England region and beyond. Prior to joining
NEDCC in 2001, Ms. Foley worked at Harvard University, where she was responsible for the
preservation of the anthropology library's collections. She received hand-bookbinding training
at North Bennet Street School in Boston, and is a graduate of Colorado College. Before changing
careers, she spent fifteen years in various trade book production departments in the Boston
area.
Alan Cote is the First Deputy Secretary of State and Chief of Staff for William Francis Galvin.
He is also the Director of the Public Records Division and the Supervisor of Records for the
Commonwealth. He is responsible for overseeing the records management programs and
policies of all state agencies as well as the 351 cities and towns of Massachusetts. He serves on
many administrative boards including the Massachusetts Historical Society and the Record
Conservation Board. He oversees the archival record process at the State Archive facility and
thirteen of the Commonwealth’s Registries of Deeds. Mr. Cote is a member of the Massachusetts
and New Hampshire bars with more than 13 years of experience in administrative, municipal,
and real estate law. Mr. Cote is widely published with many authored articles on the issues of
public records and municipal law. He is a graduate of the Massachusetts School of Law and the
University of Massachusetts with a bachelor of science in Public Administration.