DCP Mourns the Loss of F. Blair Reeves

The College of Design, Construction and Planning is saddened by the loss of F. Blair Reeves, Professor Emeritus of Architecture, who passed away on March 12 at age 89.

Blair served as a faculty member at UF from 1949 to 1987. A pioneer in the area of architectural preservation, he documented more than 17,000 historic sites through the Historic American Building Survey (HABS). As an architect specializing in education and preservation, Blair established architectural preservation programs and, with Walter Beinecke, Jr., co-founded the Preservation Institute: Nantucket (PI:N), now in its 40th year. His work at UF and PI:N touched the lives of countless professionals throughout the United States and for his work he received the highest honor awarded for historic preservation, the Louise du Pont Crowninshield Award.

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F. Blair Reeves, 89, Professor Emeritus of Architecture at the University of Florida, died on March 12, 2012.

Born in Beaumont, Texas, Blair served in the infantry during World War II. He met his wife Mary Nell Gibson at the University of Texas. They moved to Gainesville in 1949 when Blair joined the architectural faculty. As an architect specializing in education and preservation, Blair established architectural preservation programs and, with Walter Beinecke, co-founded the Preservation Institute: Nantucket (PI:N), now in its 40th year. Blair and his family always considered his students as part of their extended family.

Blair’s preservation career included the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) advisory board and various positions in local and state chapters of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). He was a member of AIA’s College of Fellows. As AIA’s State Preservation Coordinator for Florida, he supervised publication of a guide to Florida’s historic architecture.

A Trustee Emeritus of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and one of the founders of the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation, Blair received the National Trust’s Louise du Pont Crowninshield Award, the Department of Interior’s Conservation Service Award, and Florida Trust’s 1998 Evelyn Fortune Bartlett Award for Lifetime Achievement in Preservation Stewardship. Other honors included National Council for Preservation Education’s Award for Distinguished Leadership, AIA Presidential Citation, and Florida Trust’s Distinguished Service Award. In 1988, the Governor and Cabinet passed a resolution acknowledging his many contributions to the preservation movement in Florida. In 1995, the Beinecke-Reeves Distinguished Professor Chair in Architectural Preservation was established. In 2005, Blair received the Senator Bob Williams Award given in recognition of his public service that forever changed the course of historic preservation in Florida.

Blair is survived by his wife of 63 years, Mary Nell, his son, Bill (Grace) and 3 grandchildren, Jordan (Kate), Annie Kate and Will. Memorial donations may be made to the F. Blair and Mary Nell Reeves Endowment for Historic Preservation, University of Florida Foundation, PO Box 14425, Gainesville, FL 32604-2425.