North American Graduate Programs in the Conservation of

In 1958, a proposal was submitted to the Rockefeller Foundation
requesting initial financial support. In addition to Sheldon Keck and Craig
Hugh Smyth, other signees included George Stout, director of the Isabella
Stewart Gardner Museum; Murray Pease, conservator at the Metropolitan
Museum; and Frederick B. Adams, Jr., director of the Pierpont Morgan
Library.
The application was successful, and in 1960 the Conservation Center
opened its modest laboratory in the cellar and sub-basement of the James
B. Duke House. Five students were accepted into the first class, which
included such well-known names as Mary Todd Glaser, Phoebe Dent
Weil, and Benjamin Johnson. Shouldering the mantle of directorship in
1961, Sheldon Keck guided the Center through its formative years until
1965. Over time, consultants and instructors were hired, including
Lawrence J. Majewski, who became chairman in 1966, and Norbert S.
Baer, who first came as a graduate student in September 1964 in the
Department of Chemistry. Dr. Baer joined the faculty in 1969 and today
is Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Conservation. George Stout, Murray
Pease, Robert L. Feller, Seymour Z. Lewin, Edward V. Sayre, and
Rutherford J. Gettens all shared their knowledge and expertise during
these early years. Other conservation notables, among them Harold P.
Plenderleith, Stephen Rees Jones, Hubertus von Sonnenburg, Nathan
Stolow, and Leonetto Tintori, served on a Board of Consulting Fellows,
later joined by Joyce Plesters, a frequent visitor and guest lecturer.
The Curriculum
The curriculum was based, in George Stout's words, on a "three-legged
stool" of science, art history, and practice. Time has proven it to be sound
and, at the same time, responsive to changes in the field.
In the first two years, while requirements for the master's degree in art
history are being completed, students follow a mandatory two-year cycle
of introductory courses in conservation. These courses are designed to
complement one another and include lecture as well as laboratory instruction.
Students may enroll in practical courses in areas of their specialization
as prerequisite coursework is fulfilled. Students gain more intensive
conservation experience through advanced fieldwork during the third
year, culminated by the internship in the fourth year. Advanced conservation
projects and internships are typically carried out in major museums
in the New York area, as well as leading cultural institutions across the
country and abroad.
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