Election Information

Design Records Section Candidates, 2023

Positions Open

Co-Chair

Member-at-large

Web Liaison

Candidates

Position: Co-chair

Name: Jade Snelling

Job title:  Collections Archivist for the International Archive of Women in Architecture at Virginia Tech

Jade works with architectural records and design-related records that document the contributions of women to the built environment. Jade completed the SAA DAS certification in 2018 and is also a certified archivist with the Academy of Certified Archivists. Prior to her current role, summer of 2020, Jade worked on a mass digitization projects of architectural records. Before starting at Virginia Tech in spring of 2017, Jade worked as a graduate research assistant at the Alexander Architectural Archives while earning a M.S. from the University of Texas at Austin. Jade is looking forward to serving this professional community - both to share knowledge and learn from others in this section and beyond.

Position: Member at large

Name: Tellina Liu

Job Title: Archivist and Liaison Librarian for the Moshe Safdie Archive, McGill University

I am primarily the archivist and liaison librarian for the Moshe Safdie Archive at McGill University although I also work with the John Bland Canadian Architecture Collection. I am responsible for collection management, reference, and outreach for the collection, and I work closely with Safdie Architects to promote access to and use of the collection. I also hold degrees in architecture and historic preservation, and I worked as a preservation architect for several years prior to becoming an archivist. Having been an architecture and historic preservation student, I believe that access to architectural collections is important to students, and I am dedicated to providing them with that access, in order to support their education and research. I also intend to work with the School of Architecture at McGill to collect materials of currently under-represented groups and to expand the definition of what belongs in a design archive. Much of my archival career has been to work with non-design records, so I know that I have much to learn about the current state of design collections and what issues design archivists are facing. I believe that my experiences in the fields of archives, architecture, and historic preservation have equipped me with the tools to be of service to the design section, and I hope to have the opportunity to contribute to and support this group and SAA.

Position: Member at large

Name: Betsy Frederick-Rothwell

Job title: Curator & Head Archivist, Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

My new role as Curator & Head Archivist at the Environmental Design Archives (EDA) is a homecoming. I received my graduate degree in architecture from the University of California, Berkeley and fell in love with historic buildings while working as a processing archivist at the EDA after graduation. I went on to work as a preservation specialist for the U.S. General Services Administration and to obtain my MS in Historic Preservation and Ph.D. in Architecture (architectural history/historic preservation) at the University of Texas at Austin. Before returning to the Bay Area, I served as a lecturer in architectural history and a preservation project reviewer for the Texas Historical Commission.

While I have never been away from design records, it has been a while since I worked in a professional archival setting. I see the Member-at-large position as a welcome opportunity to do a lot of listening and catching up on current concerns. I am committed to gathering perspectives from the full range of section members and working with the Steering Committee and co-chairs to address the aggregate challenges and aspirations of the membership.

Elections for DRS leadership positions are held every June. DRS co-chairs will send out a call for candidate nominations every May. Nominees must submit their name, title, institution, a brief bio, and a candidate statement. Statements will be posted to the DRS site by June 1st and elections, which are open for a two-week period, are held at the end of the month. New rosters are updated with SAA Council by September 1st. Newly elected leaders are encouraged to attend the Leadership Orientation and Forum at the annual meeting.