Richard Engelheardt

Richard A. Engelheardt is an American heritage conservation expert, anthropologist and archeologist who served as UNESCO Regional Advisor [Asia-Pacific] from 1994 to 2008, and Senior Advisor from 2008 to 2010, becoming a leading force in the international cooperation for the restoration of Angkor monuments in post-war Cambodia.

An alumnus of Yale University, Engelheardt  established in 1990 the first UNESCO Office in Cambodia and initiated the International Safeguarding Campaign for Angkor, in recognition of which King Norodom Sihanouk awarded him the title Commandeur de l’Ordre Royal du Cambodge. 

After advising UNESCO on Angkor sites in particular, he was appointed in 2010 UNESCO Chair Professor of the Conservation of Historic Towns and Urban Centers, and Executive Director of the UNESCO-ICCROM Asian Academy for Heritage Management. From 2010 to 2015, he was Distinguished Visiting Professor of Research at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Hong Kong, and Guest Professor at the School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Southeast University, Nanjing, China. He has been honored by the Global Heritage Fund with a Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as by the governments of Cambodia, Myanmar, Philippines, and Viet Nam for his contribution.

Among his numerous publications: [with Prof. Walter Jamieson] The Planning and Management of Responsible Urban Heritage Destinations in Asia, Goodfellow Publishers, 2018, 234 p. ISBN-13: 978 – 1911396598.