It is with great sadness that Preservation Alumni announces the passing of Lori Zabar, a 1977 graduate of Columbia’s Historic Preservation Program, after a battle with cancer.
Lori’s contributions to the preservation field in her native New York City were vast. She served as the first director of the NYC Historic Properties Fund at the New York Landmarks Conservancy, opened the Kurland-Zabar Gallery to celebrate English and American decorative arts, served as a research associate in the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and was a preeminent scholar on developer W.E.D. Stokes, on whom she wrote her master’s thesis. She also served on the boards of Landmarks West and the Preservation League of New York State, leading to the creation of the Zabar Family Scholarship Program which supports education and research expenses of three preservation students in New York State each year.
Contributions may be made in Lori’s honor to the Preservation League of New York State. Lori’s full obituary can be read here and a tribute to Lori from ilovetheupperwestside.com can be read here.