Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani today named Sherida E. Paulsen as Chairman of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Ms. Paulsen will succeed Jennifer J. Raab, who will leave her post in May to become President of Hunter College in June.

"I am pleased to appoint Sherida Paulsen as Chairman of the Landmarks Preservation Commission," Mayor Giuliani said. "Our City is an architectural mecca, from the historic Grand Central Terminal to the majestic Arch at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn. The balance between historic preservation and urban development is critical to the growth of our City and the safeguarding of its past. Sherida has proved herself to be an able and skilled architect capable of realizing the complex relationship between urban planning and preservation. As New York continues to grow and change, I am confident that Sherida will help retain the history and character of our City's surroundings."

"I am both honored and privileged to have been chosen by Mayor Giuliani to serve New York City in the footsteps of outgoing Chairman Jennifer J. Raab, an individual whose leadership I greatly respect and admire," Ms. Paulsen said.

An architect for 16 years, Ms. Paulsen has served as a Commissioner of the Landmarks Preservation Commission since 1995. Since 1999, Ms. Paulsen has been a principal at Pasanella + Klein Stolzman + Berg Architects, working on projects such as the Millennium Master Plan of the New York Presbyterian Hospital White Plains Campus, for which she received last year's New York State Award for Historic Preservation.

From 1995 to 1999, Ms. Paulsen was a Project Principal and Studio Director at Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects. Prior to this position, she was Vice-President and Director of Architecture at Forest City Ratner Companies. From 1987 to 1993, she was an Associate and a Senior Designer at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

From 1984 to 1989, Ms. Paulsen taught architecture courses at Parsons School of Design. She is a member of the American Institute of Architects and is also a Trustee of the Van Alen Institute. Ms. Paulsen holds a Masters in Architecture from the University of California at Los Angeles.