A Tribute to Hyman Myers

Hyman Myers was a nationally recognized architect with a strong expertise in the fields of historic preservation, museum master planning, and design.     

Mr.  Myers was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, receiving both his bachelor’s degree and Master of Architecture degree from the school. Since 1973, Mr. Myers worked at VITETTA leading their efforts in the areas of preservation planning, restoration architecture, museum planning, and design.  As Director of the Historic Preservation Program, Mr. Myers had overall responsibility for the design development and documentation of projects involving the restoration, rehabilitation, and reuse of existing buildings, as well as planning and design of museum facilities. Mr. Myers lectured nationally on the subject of preservation, was active locally and nationally on preservation committees and boards and served on several historical commissions.  He taught and lectured at the University of Pennsylvania in the Graduate Program in Historic Preservation lecturing yearly for Theories of HSPV and in Studio.   

Throughout his fifty+ years of practice, Mr. Myers has fostered the highest quality design within the public sector. He has been involved in numerous restoration and rehabilitation projects throughout the United States, including a World Heritage Site, more than 60 National Historic Landmarks, over 60 listings on the National Register of Historic Places, and over 70 state and local landmarks. In all, Mr. Myers has completed over 200 historic projects totaling over $500 million worth of investment within the public sector. His work on these projects has won him national, state, and local awards for design excellence. 

Mr. Myers vast knowledge of historic buildings and styles, and engaging personality, made him a greatly sought-after preservation expert. Mr. Myers was the director for VITETTA's Historic Preservation Program from 1973-2004.  He has achieved a reputation with clients and colleagues for great creativity, design excellence, hands-on involvement, strong leadership, and the highest level of client satisfaction.  Mr. Myers has enjoyed many long-term professional relationships with demanding clients on projects each spanning more than twenty years; examples include the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, the National  Gallery of Art, and Pennsylvania’s Capitol Building in Harrisburg. These clients returned to Mr. Myers year after year because of his great breath of planning, preservation and architectural skills; his great knowledge of historic as well as contemporary materials and methods of construction; his personable team-building and leadership skills; and his dedication to the projects of the highest quality. His work on these projects won dozens of national, state, and local awards of excellence.  

Mr. Myers has long been a driving force advocating for historic preservation both locally and nationally in professional and civic organizations. Mr. Myers served as the President of Action for Preservation Philadelphia and the Philadelphia based Preservation League of Pennsylvania,  Chairman of the Board of the Bureau for Historic Preservation for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and on the Designation Committee of the Philadelphia Historic Commission for over twenty-five years. He was president of the Philadelphia Chapter SAH from 1972-1974 and was active in both the Victorian Society in America and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Hy served on the boards of the Philadelphia Chapter of AIA, and the Athenaeum of Philadelphia. 

His individual contributions to the profession were recognized by numerous awards including the F. Otto Hass Award from Preservation Pennsylvania in 1992, the James Biddle Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia's in 2009, the John Harbeson Award from the Philadelphia Chapter of the AIA in 2013 and his induction into the AIA College of Fellows in 2005.  
He was a leader in the field of historic preservation, a font of architectural knowledge and a wonderful person who will be greatly missed by all who were lucky enough to have known him.