Phil will be discussing Utica’s historical parks and greenscape as designed by Frederick Olmstead Jr. and recent efforts by the non-profit organization Olmsted City to improve and celebrate these spaces.   Everyone should have access to beauty and nature to take a breath, a walk, a moment of reflection and many people in Utica are working hard to make sure this is possible. 
Phil Bean was born and raised in Utica and has earned degrees from Union College, the University of Rochester, and Oxford University.  He has had teaching appointments at Hamilton College and Harvard University, and he served for 20 years as a dean at Harvard and Haverford colleges.  He returned to Utica in 2019 to become the Executive Director of the Central NY Conservancy, and he was a Resident Fellow of Hamilton College’s Levitt Center for Public Affairs in 2021.  Phil is now retired but serves on the boards of the Landmarks Society and the Utica Public Library and as Chair of Olmsted City, and he will teach again at Hamilton College this fall.