Jane C. Loeffler

Jane C. Loeffler is the Washington-based author of THE ARCHITECTURE OF DIPLOMACY: BUILDING AMERICA'S EMBASSIES (1998, 2010), the "canonical" history of the U.S. State Department's foreign building program that was the first to place a remarkable chapter in American architectural history into its diplomatic context and the first to examine the transformation of U.S. embassies from glass boxes to bunkers.

An architectural historian, Dr. Loeffler graduated from Wellesley College and the Harvard Graduate School of Design and earned her doctorate in American Civilization from The George Washington University. The State Department twice honored her for achievement and distinguished public service. She testified as an expert witness before the House Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs on Fortress America Abroad: Effective Diplomacy and the Future of U.S. Embassies (2008), and served on the AIA 21st Century Embassy Task Force (2009). As visiting associate professor in the Honors College at the University of Maryland, College Park (2001-2011), she also won recognition for her teaching excellence.

Dr. Loeffler wrote a book on Ezra Stoller's photographs of THE UNITED NATIONS (1999), and contributed to books including VILLA OTIUM: A DIPLOMATIC HOME (2012); BUILDING DIPLOMACY (2004); and EMBASSY RESIDENCES IN WASHINGTON, D.C. (2003). She has published numerous articles in journals, magazines, and newspapers, and lectured widely at venues including embassies in Washington (Colombia, Canada, Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Austria), the National Building Museum, the American Institute of Architects, U.S. embassies abroad (Ottawa, Oslo, Beijing, and Berlin), Stroom Den Haag (in The Hague), and the British School at Rome. She has discussed her work in interviews on radio and TV, and she has lectured at universities including: Harvard, MIT, Wellesley, UVA, Johns Hopkins SAIS, Oslo School of Architecture and Design, and Columbia.

Research travels have taken Dr. Loeffler to U.S. embassies in Athens, Ottawa, London, Dublin, Helsinki, Oslo, Copenhagen, Paris, Prague, The Hague, Brussels, Berlin, Rome, Madrid, Tokyo, and Beijing, and to the U.S. Consulate General in Munich. And she has visited, spoken at, or taken her students to tour embassies and diplomatic residences in Washington, including those of: Austria, Israel, Bahrain, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Malaysia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Great Britain, Colombia, Turkey, Indonesia, India, Egypt, Russia, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Italy, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Brazil, Côte d'Ivoire, The Netherlands, Japan, and Canada.

Those interested in delving deeper into the subject of diplomatic architecture will be pleased to know that Dr. Loeffler has recently donated her papers and photographs to the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University in New York City where they will become the JANE C. LOEFFLER COLLECTION OF RESEARCH PAPERS ON AMERICAN EMBASSIES. Researchers should be able to access the collection by Fall 2014 once it is fully processed.

For more information on Dr. Loeffler's work and a full list of her publications and appearances, see: www.thearchitectureofdiplomacy.com or go to www.janeloeffler.com.

Photo captions: 1) Jane Loeffler on C-SPAN (2008); 2) Testifying before Congress (2008); 3) At U.S. Embassy, Athens (1999) with Fred Naff & Jud Hamblett; 4) At Norwegian Embassy, Washington, D.C. with Ambassador Strommen (2012); 5) Stephen Kieran, OBO acting director Adam Namm, Jane Loeffler, & James Timberlake at AIA celebrating selection of KieranTimberlake to design new London Embassy (2010); 6) Foreign Service Journal article (Dec. 2012); 7) Lecturing at U.S. Ambassador's Residence, Oslo (2011); 8) Jane Loeffler (2011).