Deadline August 1, 2025, 11:50 pm CDT
Available Positions
VICE PRESIDENT
The SAH Nominating Committee seeks your nominations and self-nominations for the position of Vice President whose term will begin at the conclusion of the SAH 2026 annual conference in Mexico City. The Vice President serves a one-year term, renewable to a maximum of two consecutive terms. At the end of two terms, the Vice President is nominated to serve as President. The President serves a one-year term, renewable to a maximum of two consecutive terms. Serving as Vice President and President requires a four-year commitment.
DIRECTORS
The SAH Nominating Committee seeks nominations and self-nominations for six new
SAH Board members who will begin their term at the conclusion of SAH’s 2026 annual conference in Mexico City. Board members will serve a three-year term—April 2026 to April 2029—renewable for a second three-year term, for a maximum of six years.
Position Descriptions
Officers and Board members are expected to fully engage with the oversight and fiduciary responsibilities for SAH. This includes attending in-person and virtual board meetings, attending the annual conference, serving on committees, helping to implement the SAH Strategic Plan and SAH IDEAS initiative, ensuring SAH furthers its educational mission, and participating in SAH’s development and fundraising activities.
In addition to the Board Participation Policy, please read the Responsibilities of the SAH Vice President.
While it is difficult to estimate the time commitment for Board positions, it is safe to say that on average two to three hours per month would generally cover committee work, with an additional five hours per Board meeting. The Vice President can expect an average of 10 to 15 hours per month of time commitment. Board meetings are held in the Spring (April), Summer (July or August) and Fall (November). Executive Committee meetings are held four to five weeks prior to a Board meeting, and on an as-needed basis.
How to Apply
To submit a nomination or self-nomination, please complete the SAH Board Nomination form
Nominations will be confidentially compiled in the SAH office and forwarded directly to the Nominating Committee.
The SAH Board Nomination form package requests the following information:
- Nomination form
- name and email address of the nominator (if not a self-nomination)
- name, affiliation (if applicable), email address and phone number of the nominee
- confirmation that nominator (if not a self-nomination) has reached out to the nominee to ask if they will serve
- nominee's statement of interest; please see criteria below (file upload, word or PDF)
- nominee’s CV (file upload, word or PDF)
- Statement of Interest (Maximum of 750 words)
Nominations will be considered on the following criteria and the candidate’s personal statement should address them:
- Achievements in scholarship, teaching, leadership, or other professional work relative to the candidate’s career stage and circumstances.
- Explanation of why the nominee should be considered for the SAH Board and what they would contribute if elected to the Board, including but not limited to potential to diversify the board with expertise, perspectives, and professional connections that would complement those of current members.
- Explanation of how the nominee’s history with SAH including prior board experience, committee service, publication, conference participation, as well as non-SAH organizational experience have prepared them for this role.
- Capacity and desire to support the mission of SAH with regard to participation, recruitment, funding, and being an ambassador for the organization.
Submit a nomination
We greatly appreciate your recommendations and interest as we continue to build a strong and diverse Board.
Deadline for submitting nominations is August 1, 2025, 11:59 pm CDT.
Creating Greater Equity and Accountability at SAH
SAH is actively working toward creating a more equitable organizational structure that is inclusive and whose leadership represents the wide range of perspectives in the field of architectural history at large. To that end, SAH welcomes the nominations and self-nominations of candidates who will add racial, ethnic, gender, national, and expertise diversity to the SAH Board; those who are working outside the tenure track, including contingent faculty; and those who are working outside the academy. Nominees should represent the diversity of the field of architectural history and contribute to a more inclusive discipline.
Nominations of emerging scholars and independent and non-affiliated historians of architecture, landscapes, planning, and related disciplines are welcome. Nominations of practitioners in architecture, historic preservation and related fields are also encouraged, as are nominations of professionals such as people in business, law and investments who chose architectural history as their avocation. All nominees should reflect a commitment to excellence in the field of architectural history.
Governing Structure of SAH
SAH is governed by two branches of one board: an Executive Committee and a Board of Directors. The Executive Committee is composed of the elected Officers—President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary—and one appointed Officer, the Executive Director of SAH. Serving in tandem with the Executive Committee is a Board of Directors currently comprised of 14 voting members and a shifting number of non-voting Ex-Officio members who represent SAH’s publications, committees, chapters, and Affiliate Groups. The Executive Committee is authorized to represent the Board of Directors between board meetings.
The election slate of candidates for members of the governing body are vetted from a pool of nominations and self-nominations that are reviewed by SAH’s Board and Officer Nominating Committee. The SAH Board and Officer Nominating Committee is made up of five individuals appointed by SAH’s President who have been nominated or self-nominated to serve on the Committee through an open call.
The Nominating Committee reviews the nominations and self-nominations and prepares a list of vetted finalists to be presented for election to the SAH Board. The Nominating Committee will provide a list of no less than five finalists and no more than sixteen for the Director positions. If the position is for an SAH officer, the minimum is one and maximum is eight. The Nominating Committee takes into consideration the makeup of the current Board, the expertise of those who will be rotating off, and selects candidates who will best serve the priorities outlined in the call for SAH Board Nominations. Those priorities include identifying individuals who will add racial, ethnic, gender and ability diversity to the Board; professionals with financial or legal expertise; architects, attorneys, and historic preservationists; adjuncts and contingent faculty; independent scholars, etc.
After, confirming with the candidates that they support SAH’s mission, and that they understand the time commitments and responsibilities of serving on a not-for-profit Board, the Nominating Committee finalizes the slate of candidates and shares it as an informational item with the current Board at its November meeting. The slate is then presented to the SAH membership for ranked choice voting by electronic ballot in February. Elected officers and directors are notified by the SAH office when the results are tabulated after the polling closes. The membership at large is notified in the first Newsletter following the election. The new Board members begin their service at the end of the SAH Annual International Conference in April.
Nomination and selection to serve on either the Executive Committee or the Board of Directors is a formal acknowledgement of several potential factors, including one’s contributions to scholarship or excellence within their chosen field, one’s long-term service to the organization, or one’s potential to diversify the future impact and oversight of the organization.
