In the summer of 2020, Dr. Joyce Hill Stoner—the Edward F. and Elizabeth Goodman Rosenberg Professor of Material Culture at the University of Delaware (UD), Director of Preservation Studies Doctoral Program at UD, and Paintings Conservator at the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation—received the Sheldon and Caroline Keck Award from the American Institute for Conservation (AIC) and an IIC Honorary Fellowship from the International Institute for Conservation (IIC). Please join us in congratulating Dr. Stoner on these prestigious awards recognizing her commitment to conservation and education.
On July 29, IIC announced that it had awarded an honorary fellowship to Dr. Stoner. From the IIC press announcement: "The IIC Honorary Fellowship is a distinguished honor awarded in recognition of an individual’s outstanding contribution to heritage conservation, with the first Honorary Fellowship awarded to Edward Forbes in 1958. Among the luminaries of our field who have received this are George Stout, Caroline and Sheldon Keck, and Paulo and Laura Mora, to name just a few. We highlight these names to you specifically as this year’s honoree has known and respected these individuals personally, along with many others who are listed as IIC Honorary Fellows. She has also had the honor to work with them and to record their oral histories for posterity. It is thus befitting and with deep appreciation that the IIC awards this distinguished honor to Joyce Hill Stoner, paintings conservator and Edward F. and Elizabeth Goodman Rosenberg Professor in Material Culture at the University of Delaware." To read more about this award to Dr. Stoner, visit the IIC website here. (A related News in Conservation article is available here.)
That same day, AIC presented the Sheldon and Caroline Keck Award to Dr. Stoner during an awards ceremony at their annual meeting. The Keck Award recognizes a sustained record of excellence in the education and training of conservation professionals.
From letters of support for Dr. Stoner's AIC award nomination: " As a result of her teaching position at WUDPAC, her leadership of the Preservation Studies Doctoral Program, and her generous, enthusiastic readiness to take countless pre-program interns under her wing, Dr. Stoner has trained an extraordinarily large percentage of the conservators working in the United States and abroad. As a respected and beloved mentor whose teaching has touched the lives of hundreds of students, Dr. Stoner’s positive impact on the conservation profession cannot be overstated."
"From the very beginning of her career, Dr. Stoner has devoted her heart and soul to conservation education with a passionate and pioneering spirit that is truly amazing to reflect upon. Her commitment to teaching began remarkably early in her career when she established the pre-conservation undergraduate major at Virginia Commonwealth University in 1975. She soon joined the faculty at the Winterthur/ University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation as Adjunct Assistant Professor in 1976, where she has taught paintings conservation at the graduate, undergraduate, and pre-program level ever since. In 1989, she established one of the first preservation studies doctoral programs in the United States, which she currently directs at UD. Most recently, she has helped organize the Two-Week Introduction to Practical Conservation (TIP-C) program (alongside Winterthur Museum, the University of Delaware, and the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Art Alliance) to give a hands-on introduction to art conservation to African American students."
"During the past decade Dr. Stoner has directed the Preservation Studies Doctoral Program and chaired the Winterthur/UD Program in Art Conservation Executive Committee, served as Vice President of the International Institute for Conservation, Vice President of the College Art Association Board, an elected member of the U.S. Senate Arts Advisory Committee, the Delaware State Arts Council, the Andrew and Betsy Wyeth Foundation Board, and the UD Faculty Senate, led UD' s first two-week Public Engagement Institute for graduate students in material culture studies, ... presented more than 50 lectures to near-capacity scholarly and public audiences from Japan to the Academy of Lifelong Learning, published 25 scholarly articles and essays, edited two editions of the Conservation of Paintings .... taken her graduate students and other interns to professional conferences and cultural institutions within the NYC and Washington, DC, corridor and around the globe, ... maintained the Oral History File for our profession, ... and was available 24/7 in the paintings conservation laboratory at Winterthur to [any] who requested assistance."
"Dr. Stoner is a tireless advocate for her past and present students: a treasured mentor to those who graduated 30 years ago as well as to current and aspiring students. She remains a steady source of strength, wisdom, and encouragement. She sets the highest example of professionalism and compassion."
To learn more about the Keck Award and past recipients, visit the AIC website here. To learn more about the TIP-C program, visit the WUDPAC Diversity Initiatives webpage here.
