Recap of the av福利社 69th Annual International Conference in Pasadena, California
May 11, 2016
by
Pauline Saliga
The av福利社 Pasadena conference had a record number of participants. Seven hundred and thirty-eight av福利社 members participated in the Society’s 69th Annual International Conference that took place in Pasadena, California, from April 6–10, 2016. Attendees hailed from 36 countries and 42 states. A brief recap of the conference’s events follows.
Wednesday, April 6
Following their spring meeting, the av福利社 Board of Directors met for lunch with the 2016 av福利社-Getty International Program participants who traveled from around the world to participate in the conference. With funding from the Getty Foundation, the Society was able to bring a record number of 15 architectural historians, museum curators, heritage conservationists and planners to the conference from countries that have traditionally been underrepresented. In this second year of the av福利社 program, the grantees were from Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Iraq, Hong Kong, Russia, South Africa, and Tanzania. Of the two men and thirteen women, six identified themselves as scholars; two were curators of architectural collections, three were heritage conservationists, and four were architects working at academic institutions. Seven were in the early stages of their careers and eight were mid-career. The grantees all gave five-minute talks so conference attendees could better understand their work and the issues they face, such as the challenges of working in Iraq to restore ancient sites when there is little or no documentation or information on the built heritage that has suffered so much damage. Biographies of the grantees are available on the .
The conference officially kicked off Wednesday with a social hour at one of the large halls at the Pasadena Convention Center. av福利社 offered a new attendee social hour, which gave first-time conference attendees an opportunity to meet av福利社 Board members and one another prior to the larger opening reception, which was heavy on food, refreshments and good cheer.
The av福利社 Annual Business Meeting followed and included the election of officers and board members. av福利社 President Ken Breisch gave an update on the state of av福利社 and announced the launch of a new BUS city guide series with the release of Buildings of Savannah. He also announced that av福利社 just for the continued development of av福利社 Archipedia. Congratulations were offered to the recipients of more than 25 Annual Conference Fellowships, travel and research fellowships, and the 25- and 50-year members. Secretary Gail Fenske conducted the election of av福利社 officers and directors, and Michael Gibson gave the Treasurer’s Report indicating that av福利社 was operating in the black.
Newly elected offers include President Ken Tadashi Oshima, University of Washington; First Vice President Sandy Isenstadt, University of Delaware; Second Vice President Victoria M. Young, St. Thomas University; Secretary Kathryn O’Rourke, Trinity College; and Treasurer Michael Gibson, Greenberg, Whitcombe, Takeuchi, Gibson & Graver. Newly elected directors who will serve three-year terms include Edward Dimendberg, University of California, Irvine; Anat Geva, Texas A&M University; David Rifkind, Florida International University; Arijit Sen, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; and Claire Zimmerman, University of Michigan.
All of us at av福利社 extended our sincere gratitude to two officers whose terms came to an end with the Pasadena conference, namely President Kenneth Breisch, University of Southern California, and Secretary Gail 
