2018 Lifetime Achievement Award presented to Dr. Ted J Ligibel, director of Eastern Michigan University’s Historic Preservation program

2018 Lifetime Achievement Award presented to Dr. Ted J Ligibel, director of Eastern Michigan University’s Historic Preservation program
Ted Ligibel, shown here in Dundee, has led the Historic Preservation program to national prominence through efforts like securing a National Historic Landmark and National Park designation for the 1812 River Raisin Battlefield.

YPSILANTI – The Michigan Historic Preservation Network (MHPN) has selected Ted Ligibel as a winner of the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award for his efforts and contributions to preserving Michigan’s heritage.

Founded in 1981, MHPN is a non-profit organization that protects historic buildings, structures, sites and places. Winners of the Lifetime Achievement Award are selected by MHPN’s senior leadership.

MHPN will officially present Ligibel with the award on May 18 at the Annual Preservation Awards Ceremony and Reception.

"Being recognized by your peers for such an award is the sweetest of honors, so the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Michigan Historic Preservation Network is especially meaningful for me,” said Ligibel. “To be recognized for having had an impact on our students and on the historic preservation profession is all that one could ask.”

Ligibel has worked in historic preservation for 44 years and frequently lectures and writes about historic preservation, local history and historic architecture. The textbook “Historic Preservation: An Introduction to its History, Principles and Practice,” co-authored by Ligibel and Norman and Ilene Tyler, is the nation’s best-selling preservation textbook.

Ligibel worked with two U.S. presidential administrations on historic preservation issues and served for eight years on the Michigan State Historic Preservation Review Board as a member or chair.

Additionally, he helped secure National Park designation for two historic sites: the River Raisin National Battlefield in Monroe, Michigan and the Fallen Timbers Battlefield in Maumee, Ohio.

Ligibel has spent 27 years at EMU as a professor and has served as the director of the Historic Preservation program for 19 years.

“Knowing that so many of our graduates, hundreds for sure, have used their degrees to positively advance the historic preservation profession in Michigan, the nation, and even around the world is perhaps the most gratifying of rewards,” said Ligibel.

About Eastern Michigan University

Founded in 1849, Eastern is the second oldest university in Michigan. It currently serves 20,000 students pursuing undergraduate, graduate, specialist, doctoral and certificate degrees in the arts, sciences and professions. In all, more than 300 majors, minors and concentrations are delivered through the University's Colleges of Arts and Sciences; Business; Education; Health and Human Services; Technology, and its graduate school. EMU is regularly recognized by national publications for its excellence, diversity, and commitment to applied education. For more information about Eastern Michigan University, visit the University's website.

May 09, 2018

Written by:
Alyssa Schad

Media Contact:
Geoff Larcom
glarcom@emich.edu
734-487-4400