Michael Adlerstein

Michael Adlerstein is Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Capital Master Plan, a five-year program to restore and renovate the historic United Nations Headquarters in New York, NY.[1] He was appointed to the position by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in July 2007.[2]

Adlerstein obtained his architectural degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and was a Loeb Fellow at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.[3]

He has experience in restoration of historical sites. Before joining the United Nations, he was the Vice-President and Chief Architect at the New York Botanical Garden,[3] where he headed a multi-year restoration and design initiative. He previously served in positions throughout the National Park Service.[3] In this capacity, he was in charge of the planning, design and construction program for the north-east region, including partnership projects at Gettysburg, Valley Forge, Acadia and Jamestown.[3]

In the 1980', he served as Project Director for the restoration of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty,[3] the United States Department of the Interior’s most ambitious historic restoration project.[3] In this position, he managed and led the team of architects and engineers to plan, design, and construct the Ellis Island.[3] The success of the project led to his promotion as Chief Historical Architect.[3] He was recognized as the national expert in the field of historic preservation.[3]

He served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Colombia, and has worked as a State Department consultant on preservation issues on projects, including the preservation of the Taj Mahal.[3]

He has won awards for his achievements and was made a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.[3]

Since 2017, he has been teaching architecture classes as an adjunct professor at Columbia Univrsity, specializing in historic preservation.