Curran named Savannah Tech’s Department Head for Historic Preservation

SAVANNAH – Savannah Technical College has selected Benjamin R. Curran as its Department Head for Historic Preservation. In this role, Curran is responsible for oversight of all instruction, curriculum development, administrative and budgetary aspects for the College’s Historic Preservation program. As a full-time instructor, he will also supervise adjunct instructors and act as the primary spokesperson and community outreach coordinator for program and preservation trades on a local, regional and national scale. He will also be the director for STC’s Center for Traditional Craft.

Curran holds a master’s degree in heritage studies/historic preservation from Plymouth State University, along with a bachelor of science in biochemistry from the University of New Hampshire.

Previously he was the project manager for Peter Post Restoration, a company specializing in the museum quality preservation and restoration of historic properties. He was a lead faculty instructor for Historic Preservation at Edgecombe Community College in Taraboro, N.C. As a co-investigator for a research project funded by a National Geographic Society/Waitt Foundation grant, he worked as a senior member of the group investigating impacts of climate change and sea level rise and effects of salt water intrusion for coastal heritage sites for the University of New Hampshire Earth System Research Center in Durham, N.H.

He is a past board member of the Preservation Trades Network and was a board liaison for the association of preservation technology/preservation trades network.

As the only public hands-on Historic Preservation program in Georgia, Savannah Technical College has led the way in preservation education. The program has gained international recognition and has contributed to a number of community-based preservation projects in the surrounding communities. Established in 2014, the Center for Traditional Craft is organized in three distinct but intertwined components; education, research, and community outreach. For more information visit: www.savannahtech.edu/CenterTraditionalCraft.

###

#1612 | September 30, 2015

Center for Traditional Craft | Historic Preservation Program Contact: Benjamin Curran
912.443.5864 or bcurran@savannahtech.edu

Media Contact: Amy Shaffer, APR
912.443.5512 or ashaffer@savannahtech.edu