Board of Directors
Chairperson
Margaret Wallis, Lafayette Hills
Secretary/Treasurer
A. Roy Smith, West Chester
At-Large
Jane Sheffield, Altoona
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Board of Directors
Margaret Wallis
Margaret Wallis served on the Board of Preservation Pennsylvania, and later the Advisory Board, from 1992-2010. During that time she served two terms as President and was an active member of the Philadelphia Intervention Committee. She was honored with the Preservation Pennsylvania Chairman's Award in 2010.
She first became passionate about preservation while a docent at Cliveden and Andalusia, two historic sites in the Philadelphia area.
A retired development officer, Margaret worked at the University of Pennsylvania for twelve years, at the Morris Arboretum and the Medical Center.
Since retirement, Margaret has been active in her church, serving as a past Senior Warden. She continues to serve on the Development Committee of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and is currently Vice Chair of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Advancement Committee at St. James School, an independent middle school in North Philadelphia.
Margaret currently lives in Lafayette Hill with her husband.
A. Roy Smith
A preservationist for nearly fifty years, A. Roy Smith of West Chester returns to the Board of Preservation Pennsylvania, having previously served from 2002-2013. During his initial time on the Board, Roy served as Treasurer from 2002-2008 and then as Chair from 2009-2013. He has been on the Board of Advisors since 2013.
Roy’s involvement in historic preservation began in the early 1970’s after moving to Wilmington, Delaware, and has encompassed participation at the local, state and national levels. He was a member on the New Castle County (DE) Historic Review Board and on the first West Chester HARB. In the early 1980’s he helped rejuvenate Preservation Delaware, and in 2001 was one of the founding members of Chester County 2020, a preservation and conservation organization.
Nationally, Roy was a Pennsylvania Advisor to National Trust for Historic Preservation from 2008-2015 and is now an Advisor Emeritus. He was a Board Member of Preservation Action (the national lobbying organization) from 1981-2015.
Roy’s efforts in preservation have been recognized with several awards: Preservation Pennsylvania’s President’s Award and its F. Otto Haas Award; West Chester Downtown Foundation’s Preservationist of the Year Award; Commendations from West Chester Mayors DeBaptiste and Yoder for service to the Borough.
A graduate with a B.S. Chemical Engineering from Louisiana State University and a M.S. in Engineering Administration from Syracuse University, Roy’s entire career was with the DuPont Company, from which he retired in 1992.
Jane Sheffield
Jane Sheffield holds an undergraduate degree from Duke University in Economics and Psychology and a Masters in Landscape Architecture from NC State. She has worked as a historic preservation consultant, Main Street Manager, and statewide historic preservation organization executive director.
As the Executive Director of the Allegheny Ridge Corporation, manager of the Allegheny Ridge Heritage Area, she has forwarded many initiatives including sustainable public/private partnerships, curriculum development and education outreach, and regional landscape projects including the Main Line Canal Greenway which co-aligns with the September 11th National Memorial Trail in central PA.
She is the current President of HeritagePA, the Commonwealth’s statewide association of heritage areas.