An associate professor of Historic Preservation in UVM's History Department, he was named interim director of the Historic Preservation Program in 1994. Visser had large shoes to fill as director of the program. He followed the founder of UVM's Historic Preservation program and a major player in Vermont historic preservation, the ebullient, charismatic Chester Liebs. The aim of the program is to train students to assume professional positions in the growing field of historic preservation, and Visser says that his greatest satisfaction as a teacher is to see his students spread their wings and establish themselves. One thing that becomes clear in any extended conversation with Tom Visser is his belief that Vermont's historic buildings are valuable in many ways.
Buildings are more than simply shelter from Vermont's implacable climate.
They are also expressions of culture, they can be beautiful, and they often embody a community's past and its hope for the future. But first and foremost, they're a part of our identity as Vermonters. Tom Slayton '63 lives in Montpelier, Vt. His commentaries are heard on Vermont Public Radio.