Meet the Staff

Elizabeth Gilboy

Director

egilboy@vt.edu

Elizabeth has been involved in leadership roles at the Design Center since 1990 and as Director since 2000. She has a Masters of Landscape Architecture from Virginia Tech and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Design from the University of Massachusetts.  Her primary area of interest is planning and design assistance that affords healthy living opportunities and interaction with the natural environment while at the same time helping preserve the environment and open space.  The purpose of Healthy Living by Design is to address two specific crises in this nation and how community design can help address the problem.    They include the crisis of obesity (and other consequential health issues) and nature-deficit disorder, the cost of alienation from nature.  Such work includes, in part, conceptual open space master plans; parks and greenway designs; landscape designs for outdoor learning; and rain garden designs for reducing stormwater runoff.  She has overseen over one hundred projects at the Design Center, as well as initiating several publications and events including Lost Communities of Virginia, The Motorcycle Tour Guide to Lost Communities of Virginia, and Streetscapes of Virginia and The Lost Tour 2007.

Harry Gleason

Project Manager

hgleason@vt.edu

Harry attended Virginia Tech for Undergraduate Studies in Horticulture and Graduate Studies in Landscape Architecture. As a graduate student he worked at CDAC where he was introduced to the grassroots, multidisciplinary design and designing process. Carrying these tools with him, he worked in the public sector as a Downtown Revitalization Program Manager and Community Development Planner for more than 25 years.

Returning to CDAC, Harry is excited to work with multidisciplinary teams of students and faculty to aid communities in their efforts to foster a sense of place by maintaining their historic integrity while introducing new design elements. He hopes to help communities find threads which tell the story of their community to bring attention to their architectural and landscape treasures helping to instill a sense of pride of place.

In his spare time Harry focuses his energy on historic preservation activities including restoration of his own National Register property, following the progress of community revitalization efforts of historic downtowns as well as the study of woody and herbaceous plant materials and garden design.

Terri Fisher

Lost Communities of Virginia Project Manager

tlfisher@vt.edu

Terri holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Computer Science from the University of New Hampshire and completed the coursework for a Masters of Architecture degree at Virginia Tech. Terri has worked with local historic sites and is the author of several books about local history including the CDAC publication, Lost Communities of Virginia. Her interests are in the areas of preservation and sustainable design: “Our most livable communities and sustainable buildings are in many of our older neighborhoods that were built for ease of transportation, longevity, and response to the environment in a less mobile and disposable time.”  In her spare time, Terri enjoys exploring back roads, playing the clarinet, making art, and rehabilitating a historic house in the once-booming town of Narrows.

Erin Olson

Office Manager

elw14@vt.edu

Erin has been employed in various roles at Virginia Tech since 2011 after graduating with a Bachelor of Arts from Emory and Henry College in Southwest Virginia. Originally from Harrisonburg, VA, Erin currently resides in Blacksburg with her husband and two children. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with family, attending sporting events, completing home improvement projects, and being active outdoors.

Kevin Jones

Visiting Faculty; Virginia Tech School of Architecture and School of Design

kejones4@vt.edu

Kevin Jones is a practicing architect and Visiting Assistant Professor in the School of Architecture and School of Design.  He teaches 4th-year Integrative Design Studio and Professional Practice.  Prior to joining the faculty at Virginia Tech, he practiced in Richmond, VA and served as Adjunct Faculty in the School of the Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University.  His experience in practice is diverse in type and scale and includes numerous adaptive reuse projects as well as housing, institutional, community, and cultural works.  Kevin has particular expertise with the sensitive addition of modern design in historic contexts.  He has been privileged to work with both urban and rural communities on a variety of community-oriented projects – first in Richmond, with Storefront for Community Design, and most recently with the Virginia Tech Community Design Assistance Center.  His academic pursuits lie at the intersection of teaching, practice, and community engagement and he has a firm belief in the power of architecture to enrich the lives of people and places.