Board of Directors

PRESIDENT

Mike operated a family greenhouse business beginning in 1970, marketing vegetable plants and ornamentals.  In 1974 he began working in the New Castle County (Delaware) Executive’s office responsible for farmland assessment and economic development.  From 1983 to June 2011, Mr. McGrath managed the work of the Delaware Agricultural Lands Preservation Foundation in the Delaware Department of Agriculture, permanently preserving over 100,000 acres.  He pioneered innovations in the digital management of preservation processes. Mike is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) speaking nationally on farmland preservation and advanced geographic information systems.  He has served as president of the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture, the nation’s oldest agricultural organization (1785), and is now Secretary.

VICE PRESIDENT

Dee lives with her family in her childhood home in Rockland, Delaware adjacent to Brandywine Creek State Park where her passion for conservation was instilled exploring the woods and streams of the park as a child, and her love of historic architecture became part of her as she watched the acres around become developed, roads widened, all at the expense of the community’s historic resources.  Dee served as the Executive Director of Preservation Delaware from 1995-2002.  She then became the Executive Director of S.A.V.E., a land use, conservation planning and smart transportation advocacy organization based in Chester County, Pennsylvania.  While at S.A.V.E. Dee led initiatives to protect historic bridges and rural community character and created PennDOT’s historic bridge task force.  In 2012 she was honored with the Chairman’s Award from Preservation Pennsylvania.

VICE PRESIDENT

VICE PRESIDENT

TREASURER

David Cullmann has spent the last 25 years of his career in the financial service industry, working for companies such as Arthur Andersen, Citi Group, Lehman Brothers, and the Federal Reserve Bank. He currently holds the position of Managing Director, Head of Business Planning and Analysis over several divisions within BNYMellon. Over the years, David has developed a passion for midcentury modern architecture, and was fortunate enough to purchase one of Delaware’s first midcentury modern homes, designed by the architectural firm of Victorine Dupont-Homsey and Samuel Homsey. Since purchasing the home in 2005, David has spent his time split between New York City and Wilmington, Delaware; dedicated to the restoration and preservation of the home located in North Wilmington.  “Preserving the past, enables us to plan for the future. With Delaware’s rich history, we all need to do our part to ensure that preservation remains a strong component of building for its future.”

SECRETARY

Wade is a Registered Professional Archeologist (RPA) with more than 35 years of historical research, historic preservation, and cultural resource management (CRM) experience. He received his graduate degree in American History from the University of Delaware (1988). His work experience includes projects in Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Virginia with tasks including preservation planning, alternative mitigations, MOA development, National Register evaluations and nominations, Section 106 consultation, NEPA consultation, all phases of archaeological field work, historical and architectural research, and the development of exhibits and public outreach. Wade is a past president of the American Cultural Resources Association (ACRA).. A lifelong Delawarean, he is an internationally recognized historian and historical archaeologist with research interests in the history of farmsteads and agricultural landscapes, urban development, military history and archaeology, environmental history, African-American studies, and Middle Atlantic regional history and historic preservation. Wade served for nearly a decade on the New Castle County Preservation Review Board and is a past president of the Delaware Academy of Science. In 2016 he was the recipient of the Archibald Crozier Award for Distinguished Achievement in and Contributions to Archaeology from the Archeological Society of Delaware.

Born with a passion for preservation, Tyler finds happiness in preserving places that matter. Tyler has been active in historic preservation and environmental protection since his early teens. Youth environmental and historic preservation advocate. Founder of the Facebook page Save The Summerton Mansion.

Michael J. Emmons, Jr. is an architectural historian at the Center for Historic Architecture and Design (CHAD) at the University of Delaware, where he also teaches in the Certificate Program in Historic Preservation.  He believes preserving historic buildings and landscapes enhances sense of place, creates stronger communities, and contributes to a more sustainable future.

John Mateyko is an architect specializing in the intersection of historic preservation and sustainability for the past 50 years.

He formerly served as president of the Delaware Board of Architects and currently as national chair of the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards Work Group on Sustainability and Resiliency tasked with realigning the profession of architecture (including historic preservation services) to the new requirements of climate change.

He has served as a board member of the Delaware Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and chaired its Sustainability Program for a decade. He served as a founding officer of the Greater Lewes Foundation, and past president of Delaware Power and Light: A Religious Response to Climate Change.

Mateyko holds a BA and graduate studies in architectural history, and a Master of Architecture degree. He studied urban design under Jonathan Barnett of the University of Pennsylvania. He is licensed to the practice of architecture in five states as the principal of John Mateyko Architect, LLC. based in Newark, Delaware.

Abdullah R. Muhammad, who was born in Georgetown, SC, spent his formative years in Baltimore, MD, where he lived for 38 years. He moved to Delaware in 2003, after spending 10 years studying and teaching in New York City, where he successfully completed two master’s degrees in education, taught for 10 years and served as principal for one year.
 
After serving one year in the Colonial School District, Dr. Muhammad concentrated his efforts on writing a reader-friendly history book to capsulate the pivotal history of Delaware.  This one-of-a-kind history book, The Making of Delaware One Day at a Time quickly became the $1-selling history book in the state that was preceded by his #1-selling Delaware History calendar—2007-2012. 
 
Dr. Muhammad’s long-time relationship with the New Sweden Centre and his success as an author, made him the ideal candidate for writing the first-ever scholarly book on the life of Antoni Swart aka Black Anthony, New Sweden’s lone African settler.  Not only was Muhammad successful in completing the first scholarly book on Antoni, but also the first person to honor Antoni with a 375th Anniversary celebration in 2014 and the unveiling of his newest book, Africans in New Sweden: The Untold Story.  Shortly after the release of his newest book, he was hired by Delaware State University as an Adjunct Professor of History, where he completed his doctoral requirements in record time.
 
Currently, Dr. Muhammad is focusing his time and effort on gaining educational parity and equity for students of color in America’s educational system, preserving and safe-guarding the history of Delaware and its non-white schools, and completing a long-overdue historical dialogue with some of Delaware’s leading voices in the ageless discussion of Delaware’s racial history since the Brown v. Board of Education Decision.

Barbara is a semi retired Interior Space Planner and Designer, primarily contract and commercial projects. Past projects/clients include, State of Delaware, Corporate and General Offices, Art Facilities, Libraries, Automobile Dealerships, Courthouse, Health Care, Education Facilities, Restaurants, etc. She received her BFA in Interior Design/Space Planning from Pratt Institute. Barbara lives in the wonderful Historic Town of Lewes, DE. Currently she is on the board of the Lewes Historical Society, chairs their Christmas House Tour, on the board of Preservation Delaware, chairs the Historic Preservation Commission for the City of Lewes. Currently she is working on a Lewes committee to combine the Lewes Historic Preservation Commission and the Commercial Architectural Review Commission in order to continue to Preserve the Historic Character and Fabric of the City Lewes.

Antonio Winston
(302) 322-7100