Stefan Michalski Receives 2005 Harley J. McKee Award

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CCI Newsletter, No. 36, Fall 2005

Stefan Michalski Receives 2005 Harley J. McKee Award

by Natalie Bull, Executive Director, Heritage Canada Foundation

On behalf of the Association for Preservation Technology International (APT)¹, I am pleased to announce that the recipient of the 2005 Harley J. McKee Award² is Stefan Michalski. The award, the highest honour bestowed by APT, recognizes outstanding contributions to the field of preservation technology over time. In my role as outgoing president of APT, it was my honour to present the award to Stefan at our annual conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in September 2005.

Stefan, who joined CCI in 1979, has spent his career researching preventive conservation — particularly the areas of light, temperature, and relative humidity. Over the years he has developed and provided advice on these topics, particularly risk assessment, climate control, and building issues, to the Canadian museum, gallery, and archive community. A prolific writer, trainer, and speaker, he has also published, taught, and lectured in various capacities in Canada and around the world on subjects including environmental control, museums in historic buildings, lighting in museums, and systematic preventive conservation.

For building preservationists, Stefan's greatest contribution is the changed thinking he has brought to the issue of maintaining historic objects in the buildings in which they belong. He has utilized this approach to the benefit of such notable places as Robie House in Chicago, the Library of Parliament and the Portrait Gallery in Ottawa, the Osler Library in Montreal, and the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.

Congratulations, Stefan.

1. APT is a cross-disciplinary organization dedicated to promoting the best technology for conserving historic structures and their settings.
   
   
2. The award is named for Harley J. McKee, Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (1905-1976), a preservationist, architect, author, and professor whose 30-year teaching career benefited several generations of students at five universities, including a 20-year tenure at Syracuse University. McKee was a participant in the second annual meeting of APT, held at Upper Canada Village in 1968.