[MainstreetTowns] SHPO Staff Changes

[Melvena Heisch]

Dear Oklahoma Preservation Friends and Colleagues:

As many of you know, I am retiring as Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer on October 1. It has been my great honor and pleasure to work with all of you for the past 41-plus years. It is so rewarding to see the development of Oklahoma's preservation programs demonstrated in the work of federal agencies, tribal governments, state and local governments, and the private sector. The SHPO staff and I thank all of you for your work and look forward to our continued working relationships. While I am retiring from the SHPO, I plan to remain an advocate for historic preservation and hope to work with you in new ways.

Now it is my pleasure to introduce the new Deputy SHPO and two other new staff members. Due to budget reductions, we left our Certified Local Governments Coordinator position open since Glen Roberson's retirement a year ago, and another vacancy recently occurred when Stephanie Ballard resigned as our Survey Coordinator to return home to Virginia.

Lynda Schwan Ozan has been appointed to serve as Oklahoma's Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer. Lynda has served as the SHPO's Architectural Historian and National Register Program Coordinator since May 2008. An Ohio native, she has degrees in history and historic preservation and brings over 20 years of preservation experience to her new position. Lynda's research interests span architectural and cultural history and colonial America. She has conducted research in westward expansion settlement patterns; indentured servitude; and modern architectural styles. She is the author of numerous National Register of Historic Places nominations, and published journal articles, most recently an article for The Chronicles of Oklahoma on "The Architectural Legacy of Oklahoma." Contact Lynda at 405/522-4478 or lozan at okhistory.org<mailto:lozan at okhistory.org>. She assumes her new duties on September 15.

Jennifer (Jen) Jones joined the SHPO staff on September 1st as the Certified Local Governments Program Coordinator/Preservation Planner. She holds an M.A in History with an emphasis on historic preservation and museum studies from Oklahoma State University; an M.A. in archaeology and heritage management from the University of Leicester, Leicester, UK; and a B.A. in history and English from Southwestern Oklahoma State University, Weatherford. Since 2014, Jen has served as Architectural Historian/Historian for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, Cultural Resources program. Jen has taught at the college level and owned her own preservation consulting firm, writing several National Register of Historic Places nominations. Contact Jen at 405/521-6387 or jjones at okhistory.org<mailto:jjones at okhistory.org>

David Chunn will join the SHPO staff on September 15th as the Historian/Survey Coordinator. He holds a B.A. in History/Political Science from Auburn University and completed studies in City and Regional Planning at the University of Memphis. Davi is leaving his position as a Planner in the Department of Planning, City of Hot Springs, Arkansas where he staffed the City's historic preservation commission and managed its certificate of appropriateness process. Contact David at 405/522-2713 or dchunn at okhistory.org<mailto:dchunn at okhistory.org> after September 15.

I am sure that you will enjoy working with Lynda, Jen, and David in their new positions. The SHPO is currently recruiting candidates for the Architectural Historian/National Register Coordinator position that Lynda previously held and hopes to fill the position soon.

Thank you for working with the SHPO staff and me for the past 40-plus years to preserve Oklahoma's heritage, and I wish you great success in the future.

Sincerely,

Melvena Heisch
Deputy SHPO
State Historic Preservation Office
Oklahoma Historical Society
Oklahoma History Center
800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive
Oklahoma City, OK 73105-7917
405/522-4484
mheisch at okhistory.org<mailto:mheisch at okhistory.org>



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