Robin B. Williams

Chair emeritus, architectural history

Chair emeritus of architectural history, 2026–present
Chair and professor of architectural history, 1995–2026
Professor of art history, 1993–96, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA

Visiting lecturer, Summer 1995, Department of Fine Arts, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON

Teaching assistant, 1988–90, Department of History of Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

National Endowment for the Arts, Art Works grant, Design category ($10,000), awarded to the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) to support "Reading the City," a thematic series of public talks and tours about the built environment of Savannah, Georgia, coordinated by Robin Williams as lead author of the Buildings of Savannah book, 2013
"40 under 40," The Savannah Business Report and Journal, Feb. 24-Mar. 2, 2003
National Endowment for the Humanities, Division of Preservation and Access, Implementation grant ($150,000), Virtual Historic Savannah Project, 2002
Virtual Historic Savannah Project: National Endowment for the Humanities, Division of Public Programs ($50,280); and Georgia Humanities Council ($9,766), 2000–01
Savannah Symposium on the City Square: Georgia Humanities Council ($2,000) and Samuel Kress Foundation ($2,500), 1999

Professional memberships

Boards and committees

Member, GSA Savannah Court House Annex Consulting Party Committee, Jan. 2018–present
Member, City of Savannah Mayor's Confederate Memorial Task Force, Sept.–Nov. 2017
Member, CNU-Savannah Tour Committee, 2017–18
Member, Steering Committee, Savannah Streets Project, Feb.–May 2017
Member, General Education Task Force, SCAD, 2016–18
Member, Georgia Trust Fall 2016/2017 Ramble Sites Committee, 2016–17
Member, Local Conference Committee, Savannah Victorian Society, 2014–15
Member, Board of Directors, Georgia Representative, Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians, 2012–15
Member, Historic District Board of Review, City of Savannah, 2010–16
Member, Board of Directors, Society of Architectural Historians, 2007-2010 SACS QEP Academic Committee, SCAD, 2008–09
Member, Alice Davis Hitchcock Award Committee, Society of Architectural Historians, 2008
Member, Founders' Award Committee, Society of Architectural Historians, 2007
Reviewer, Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants Review Panel, National Endowment for the Humanities, Washington, D.C., 2007, 2009
Member, Consulting Committee, Owens-Thomas House Slave Quarters Interpretation project, Savannah, Ga., 2006–13
Member, Historic District Ordinance Revisions Committee, Metropolitan Planning Commission, City of Savannah, 2001–04; 2008–09
Member, Georgia National Register Review Board, 1999–2002

Chairmanships

Antoinette Forrester Downing Book Award Committee, Society of Architectural Historians, 2016
K-12 Education Committee, Society of Architectural Historians, 2011–13
Georgia National Register Review Board, 2001–02

Publications

Robin B. Williams et al., Buildings of Savannah, Buildings of the United States Series for the Society of Architectural Historians, Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2016.
"A Nineteenth-Century Monument for the State," The Pantheon: From Antiquity to the Present, eds. Tod A. Marder and Mark Wilson Jones, Cambridge University Press, 2015, pp. 356–379.
"Preface," Naga: The Master Architect Series, Images Publishing, 2014, pp. 8–9.
"'A Well-paved City': Variety, Locality and Modernity in Paving Savannah's Streets," ARRIS: Journal of the Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians 24, 2013, pp. 20–39.
"Foreword" to Karolin Frank, Historic Preservation in the USA, Heidelberg: Springer, 2001.
"The Image of Secular Power: The romanità of Italian State Architecture under the Sinistra, 1876–90," Guglielmo Calderini: La Costruzione di un’architettura nel progetto di una Capitale, ed. Giogio Muratore, Perugia, 1996, pp. 9–23.

Presentations

"Savannah’s Unique Urban Environment," presented at Giants of Design, Savannah, Ga., March 11, 2019.
"Rethinking Savannah's Popular Image," presented at The Learning Center of Senior Citizens, Savannah, Ga., Oct. 31, 2018.
"The Architectural and Urban Characteristics of Savannah," presented at the Savannah Newcomers Club, Oct. 17, 2018.
"Protecting Our Streets: An Update on Historic Pavements in Savannah and Beyond," presented at Friends of Massie Lecture Series, Savannah, Ga., Oct. 10, 2018.
Savannah presentation for Randall Paulson Architects, corporate retreat, Savannah, Ga., May 3, 2018.
"Savannah's Neglected History Underfoot: Appreciating the City's Historic Street and Sidewalk Pavement and Landscaping," presented by Telfair Art Guild, Savannah, Ga., March 12, 2018.
"The Architectural and Urban Englishness of Savannah," presented at English Speaking Union, Savannah, Ga., Mar. 4, 2018.
"Savannah's Two St. John's: Portraits of How the Gothic Revival Evolved in the 19th Century," presented at Ladies of St. John’s Church group, Savannah, Ga., Dec. 7, 2017.
"Neglected History Underfoot: Appreciating Savannah's Historic Street and Sidewalk Pavement," presented at Savannah Victorian Society, Savannah, Ga., Nov. 14, 2017.
"Commemorating Tomochichi in Savannah," presented at The History Forum of the Lowcountry, Hilton Head, S.C., Nov. 3, 2017.
"From River to River: Georgia's First City," presented at Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation Fall Ramble, Savannah, Ga., Oct. 7, 2017.