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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

John Hurd, Newly Elected President of the ICOMOS Advisory Committee, Brings Extensive International Conservation Experience to the GHF Management Team and Senior Advisory Board

PALO ALTO, CALIF. (September 28, 2006) – John Hurd, a renowned conservator from the United Kingdom with over two decades of field experience in Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, China and the Silk Road, joins Global Heritage Fund as our Head of Archaeological Conservation and our Senior Advisory Board.  GHF is a leading international conservancy dedicated to preserving endangered world heritage sites in developing countries.

John Hurd is President of the Advisory Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), the international association of professional conservators. John has served as a senior conservation consultant to UNESCO on the Silk Roads cities of Central Asia and chaired the ICOMOS UK National Earth Committee from 1994-2000, and was elected as President of the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee for Earthen Architectural Heritage in 2006. 

John has worked for Global Heritage Fund in two major field projects since 2004 at the historic city site of Ani in Eastern Turkey and in the conservation and revitalization of the Historic City of Kars.  One of the top global experts on conservation of earthen architecture, he received a BSc in the Geology of Clays, a Conservation Science Diploma and an ‘Objects’ higher National Diploma, and has worked on the conservation of earth structures, both standing and archaeological for the past 20 years. His work extended from Europe to Central Asia and China by the mid 1990s.

“John Hurd is one of the most seasoned field conservators I have ever met, and will help us build an outstanding technical and field-based science foundation for the work of Global Heritage Fund around the world”, says GHF Executive Director Jeff Morgan. “Not only is he one of the leading experts in Earthen Architecture, but has worked in almost all of the developing countries where GHF is focused and brings strong relationships with the Ministries and top conservators, UNESCO World Heritage and ICOMOS, the International Council on Monuments and Sites, where John was recently elected President of their Advisory Committee.”

"We are honored to have John join the GHF Team and our Senior Advisory Board and congratulate him on his election in Edinburgh, Scotland this month to the Presidency of the distinguished ICOMOS Advisory Committee. John Hurd will be a critical leader at GHF and  our expanding efforts to plan, protect and monitor critical world heritage preservation and restoration projects around the developing world," said Morgan. “John brings extensive field conservation, master planning, and science-based conservation experience that will help develop GHF as a leading international conservancy."

“I am honored and delighted to be nominated to the GHF Senior Advisory Board. GHF has proved to me that through its concerns for World Heritage conservation together with a willingness to react in a timely and positive way to the many activities which GHF supports within the heritage field, GHF is offering a new and very effective model for the future of heritage conservation in a global scale. I look forward to working with the expert GHF Board and with the many worlds leading consultants which GHF mobilizes in its activities. ” said John Hurd on his nomination to the GHF Senior Advisory Board.

About Global Heritage Fund
Global Heritage Fund is the leading international conservancy preserving endangered world heritage sites in developing countries. Our mission is to enable successful, long-term preservation of humankind's most important archaeological sites and ancient townscapes, creating new opportunities for economic growth. Global Heritage Fund uses its Preservation by Design methodology to develop comprehensive Master Conservation Plans, provide early matching grants and training, build local institutions and promote sustainable tourism development to further permanent protection for global cultural treasures. Global Heritage Fund is a registered non-profit international conservancy based in Palo Alto, California.

At the very heart of GHF's conservation efforts is the Global Heritage Network (GHN) of experts and conservation technology backed by GHF’s Leaders in Conservation, Senior Advisory Board, and Trustees for Global Heritage, a distinguished network of philanthropists and foundations committed to preserving and protecting these endangered one-of-a-kind archaeological and world heritage sites.

John Hurd, Head of Archaeological Conservation Global Heritage Fund President, ICOMOS Advisory Committee

John Hurd
Head of Archaeological Conservation
Global Heritage Fund
President, ICOMOS Advisory Committee

John Hurd has been involved in the care, conservation and maintenance of  objects, historic structures and places, both in the UK and overseas since 1975. The practice now, is comprised of a small group of specialists with a diverse range of skills, experience and interests, who are devoted to good conservation practice, and the promotion of responsible conservation.

Our diversity allows us to provide unique and specific conservation solutions in every situation. Our projects range in scope from small contractual and consultancy work, to major research and conservation campaigns on historic buildings and places.

The practice has established a particular expertise in the conservation of earthen structures and sites, and has a commitment to training towards best practice in this field. John Hurd is well known for his concerns over the use of sustainable technologies appropriate to the cultural methods existing in any society. Adapting local technologies to conservation standards is often more useful than importing what are sometimes regarded as more advanced technologies from elsewhere, but which prove difficult in their maintenance in remote areas.