Herbert Gottfried, a cultural historian in the Department of Landscape Architecture, will retire July 1. Before coming to Cornell, where he chaired the Department of Landscape Architecture from 1994 to 2001, Gottfried served on the faculties of Iowa State, Oklahoma State, and the University of Wyoming. He began his academic career as a professor of English, teaching creative writing.

During his tenure at Cornell, Gottfried helped found the Cultural Landscape Program and establish a doctoral degree program in landscape architecture. He saw the first three tenure-track women on the faculty successfully through promotion, including the first woman to gain tenure from a junior faculty position in any Ivy League landscape architecture program. A recipient of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Diversity Award, he currently advises on diversity at the college and university levels. He also helps coach the men's lightweight rowing team.

Gottfried’s research has focused on America's common buildings and the intersection between cultural and environmental history, including the relationship between cultural intentions and environmental change. The books that resulted from this research include American Vernacular Architecture, 1870-1940 and American Vernacular Design, 1870–1940 (both with Jan Jennings). His most recently published project is “Scene Again: Landscape and Visual History”, a study, accompanied by Gottfried’s poetry and Frank Gohlke’s photographs, of a line of latitude across the state of Massachusetts. Gottfried’s latest book, about printed souvenirs, is being reviewed for publication by a university press.