Interviews with our Board Members: Dr. Richard Veit

Preservation New Jersey is pleased to welcome Richard Veit (Rich) to the Board of Trustees.  Currently serving as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Monmouth University, he previously was the Associate Dean and Interim Dean of the Wayne D. McMurray School of Humanities and Social Sciences.  He has taught in Monmouth’s Department of History and Anthropology since 1997. 

Rich’s education includes a BA summa cum laude from Drew University (major Anthropology; minor History), an MA from the College of William And Mary (Anthropology /Historical Archeology) and his Ph.D. (Anthropology/Historical Archaeology) from the University of Pennsylvania.  His research focuses on the historical archaeology of the Middle Atlantic Region from the 17th through 19th centuries.  Rich is an active author and two of his books (Digging New Jersey’s Past and New Jersey: A History of the Garden State (co-authored with Maxine Lurie) are listed on the New Jersey State Library’s 101 Great New Jersey books list.  With PNJ Board Trustee Mark Nonestied, Rich co-authored New Jersey Cemeteries and Tombstones:  History in Landscape. 

Currently serving as President of the Society for Historical Archaeology, he is past chair of the Council for Northeast Historical Archeology and serves as a member of the New Jersey Historical Commission.  Rich has had the opportunity to be on the TV show Drive By History and his archaeological projects have been featured on NPR’s academic minute, in Archaeology Magazine, and he has been a TED speaker. 

Beginning in the late 1980s, Rich’s work in historic preservation included stints at various cultural resource management firms in and around New Jersey and, even after beginning a teacher career, he continued to consult in archaeology and still does today. 

Rich’s parents passed the historic preservation bug to him, as they visited abandoned canal locks, basins, and planes.  The Bicentennial added to his interest with visits to Fort Ticonderoga and Colonial Williamsburg.   

As Rich notes, “New Jersey is a small state with a big history.  Historic sites, buildings, cemeteries, monuments, and landscapes provide touchstones to history, remind us of where we came from, who we are, and what we hope to become.” 

Wanting to help PNJ execute its vision as well as making sure that archeology had a voice on the board are two of the reasons Rich became a trustee.  He believes the biggest challenge for PNJ is membership but sees that we are making progress this year.   

Rich lives in New Jersey with his wife, son, dog, and rabbit.  His daughter resides in South Carolina.  In addition to other hobbies, he enjoys collecting old woodworking and blacksmithing tools, collecting books on New Jersey, playing golf poorly, and photographing historic cemeteries. 

Preservation New Jersey is thrilled to have Rich’s ideas, education, and experience as part of the board!