Robert Z. Melnick is a Professor of Landscape Architecture and a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects. He served as Vice Chair of the Board of the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training, a unit of the National Park Service.  Melnick is past co-editor of Landscape Journal, co-editor of Preserving Cultural Landscape in America (Johns Hopkins), co-author of the National Register Bulletin on rural landscapes, and author of many other articles on landscape preservation. He has received a number of professional awards for his landscape preservation projects, and is the recipient of the 2004 Martin Luther King Jr. award from the University of Oregon. Melnick currently serves on the board of the Oregon Council of Humanities.

Appointed Dean of the School of Architecture and Allied Arts in March 1996, Melnick served as interim dean from March 1995 until the completion of a national search at which time he was selected to fill the post.  Melnick was Head of the Department of Landscape Architecture from 1990 until 1995.  He joined the UO faculty in 1982 arriving in Eugene from a position at Kansas State University.

            Next year, Melnick will be the Visiting Senior Program Officer for the Getty Grants Program and will guide the Campus Heritage initiative. The J. Paul Getty Trust  sponsored a national conference in 2002 organized by Dean Melnick to explore the broader concept of stewardship for campus architecture and landscape design.  Melnick will guide the planning and implementation of the Getty’s new initiative. 

A national search is underway to recruit and select a new dean.  Vice President Lorraine Davis credits Melnick “for his outstanding job and many contributions to the university.”