Board of Directors

Akea Cader
Akea Cader obtained her B.S. in Wildlife Conservation at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). Upon graduating, Akea has made it her mission to support environmental youth education and equitable access to green spaces. One of Akea’s first positions after graduation was acting as the youth education intern at Frederick Law Olmsted NHS where she led the Stewards of the Future youth program and assisted with the Good neighbors youth program for the 2021 and 2022 season. Akea still supports the historic site as a Youth education consultant currently.

Kristen Dahmann
Kristen has practiced both Landscape Architecture and Architecture and most recently graduated with a Masters in Historic Preservation from Boston University. She has a deep love for architectural history and the vernacular landscape.

Arleyn A. Levee
Arleyn A. Levee, Hon. ASLA is a landscape designer, historian and preservation consultant, specializing in the work of the Olmsted firm. After a lengthy practice in residential design, she now concentrates on research, writing and lecturing about Olmsted firm projects. She is the author of “An Enduring Legacy: Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. in the Nation’s Capital,” in Civic Art: A Centennial History of the US Commission of Fine Arts (2013) and The Blue Garden: Recapturing an Iconic Newport Landscape (2016, republished in 2019). She is a board member of NAOP and serves on various committees for Historic New England, The Cultural Landscape Foundation and the Citizen’s Advisory Committee for the Muddy River Restoration, the latter involved with overseeing the rehabilitation of this component of the iconic Emerald Necklace park network.

Wendy Machmuller
Wendy Machmuller has been a resident of Brookline’s Pill Hill Historic District, just down the street from Fairsted, for the past 16 years. She can often be seen in Olmsted Park walking her dog, running around Jamaica Pond or up and down the many sets of granite stairs, taking in but never for granted her close proximity to these neighborhood gems. With an interest in planning, environmental sustainability, social inclusivity, and community engagement, Wendy has served on various Town committees. She is an elected Town Meeting Member of Precinct 4, a board member of the Brookline Neighborhood Alliance and Past President of the High Street Hill Association.

Lauren G. Meier
Lauren Meier, FASLA, is a landscape architect with a specialty in historic preservation and has worked in both public and private practice, including the award-winning restoration of the Fairsted landscape. She has published many articles on landscape preservation practice. Meier is co-author of the historic resource study, “The Olmsteds and the National Park Service” and is an editor of the Master List of Design Projects of the Olmsted Firm and the final two volumes of the Papers of Frederick Law Olmsted published by Johns Hopkins University Press. She holds a BA in Botany from Pomona College, MLA from Harvard Graduate School of Design and a Certificate in Botanical Art from Massachusetts Horticultural Society.

Steven R. Pendery
Steve Pendery served as archaeologist for the National Park Service Northeast Region and has personal familiarity with the buried resources at Fairsted. Archaeology brought to light exactly how challenging it was for the Olmsted firm just to keep their own backyard drained and dry! After Pendery received his PhD in anthropology from Harvard University Pendery he served as Boston’s City Archaeologist and later directed Archaeological Services at U Mass Amherst. He appreciates the critical value of the Olmsted archives as a key to understanding park archaeological preservation due to the firm’s careful documentation of landscapes before and after construction.

Ian Scherling
Ian Scherling, ASLA, is a landscape architect at Sasaki. His work considers themes of human-centered design, social justice, and critical regionalism. He has had the privilege of touching many projects by Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. and the Olmsted firm. Ian consistently speaks at conferences and he values mentoring the next generation of landscape architects, serving as instructor, lecturer, or critic at Northeastern, Boston Architectural College, Rhode Island School of Design, Roger Williams University, Kansas State University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Texas A&M University. Ian received a non-baccalaureate master of landscape architecture degree from Kansas State University in 2009.

Sam E. Valentine
Sam serves as Senior Landscape Architect with the City of Boston Planning Department. He recently completed a Fulbright research fellowship, focusing on community-constructed landscapes in Brazil and Angola. He holds degrees from Harvard Graduate School of Design and the University of Georgia. For a decade, Sam practiced with Richard Burck Associates, where he managed campus, streetscape, and public-realm park projects, including the renovation of the Westland Avenue Gateway in Boston’s Back Bay Fens, which reconciled contemporary community needs with the historic design intent of the Olmsted firm. Sam’s first real job was at Fairsted, helping to implement the “Good Neighbors” education program.

Emily Vance
Emily Vance is a historic preservationist whose work has helped preserve cultural resources at the local, state, federal and international levels. She recently served as the National Register and Architectural Survey Coordinator for the West Virginia State Historic Preservation Office. She has also worked as a preservationist and archaeologist in the National Parks including Yellowstone, Redwoods and Death Valley. Through the US/ICOMOS International Exchange Program, she engaged in preservation work abroad. She earned an MS in Historic Preservation from the University of Oregon and completed her undergraduate degree in Anthropology at the University of Mississippi.

Ann Whiteside
Ann is Librarian/Assistant Dean for Information Resources in the Frances Loeb Library at Harvard GSD. Her career has focused on expanding access to print and digital materials in close collaboration with scholars, digital library collection building, the use of technology to support teaching and research, and digital preservation issues for born digital design files. She is active in many professional organizations and committees that shape approaches to the changing needs and opportunities faced by research libraries, including the Art Libraries Society/North America, the Association of Architecture School Librarians, the Society of Architectural Historians, and the International Confederation of Architectural Museums.

Tom Woodward
Tom Woodward is a leader in the not-for-profit sector, specializing in higher education, the arts, and historic preservation. With a career spanning several prominent institutions, he has served in key roles at Harvard University and the Clark Art Institute. His experience with the National Park Service underscores his commitment to historical and environmental stewardship, where he has held diverse positions including administrator, park ranger, and educator. His notable assignments include the Olmsted, Longfellow, and Kennedy National Historic Sites in Boston, Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park in Woodstock, Vermont, the Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, and the Tsongas Industrial History Center at Lowell National Historic Park. Tom’s multifaceted background reflects his dedication to preserving cultural heritage and advancing educational missions.