Susan Michele Rademacher

Member since: 2017

Proposed by: The Village Garden Club of Sewickley, Zone V

Praised for her leadership in stewarding parks and public spaces, Susan Rademacher focuses on awakening and deepening our relationship to place so that everyone thrives. Her expertise in landscape architecture, historic preservation, and public art was honed over thirty years of conservancy practice in Louisville, Kentucky, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Susan is committed to inclusion and collaboration, applying historic and scientific rigor, expressing cultural and ecological values, championing beauty, and achieving a sustainable balance of park use and care.

As executive director of River Heritage Conservancy since 2022, Susan is developing the new Origin Park along the Ohio River in Southern Indiana. This climate-adaptive regional park will reclaim brownfields and reveal the rich natural and cultural history of the Falls of the Ohio area.

From 2007-2020, Susan served as Parks Curator for the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, a non-profit partner of the City of Pittsburgh. Projects included: Allegheny Commons, August Wilson Park, Mellon Park Walled Garden, Mellon Square, and the Westinghouse Memorial. Susan gained experience in parks management having served in the dual role of assistant director of Louisville Metro Parks and president of the Louisville Olmsted Parks Conservancy from 1991-2007. Cornerstone accomplishments included: a nationally renowned ecological master plan for the historic Olmsted parks system; award-winning innovative projects; and successful capital campaigns for equitable investment. From 1977-87, Susan rose in the publishing world to become the editor-in-chief of Landscape Architecture magazine and a co-founder and editor-in-chief of Garden Design magazine. In addition to being a design leader for public spaces and cultural landscape preservation, Susan has lectured and taught on topics in landscape architecture for many institutions and universities, including the American Society of Landscape Architects, Aspen International Design Conference, Barnes Foundation, Chatham University, City Parks Alliance, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Cultural Landscape Foundation, DOCOMOMO, Field Museum of Natural History, Harvard University, International Urban Parks Conference, National Recreation and Parks Association, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Smithsonian Institution, University of California-Berkeley, and University of Pennsylvania.

An engaging speaker, Susan has shared insights and expertise with many GCA clubs and is on the GCA's national Speakers List. Her award-winning books include Garden Design: History, Principles, Elements, Practice; Bold Romantic Gardens: The New World Landscapes of Oehme and van Sweden; Outdoor Living Spaces; and Mellon Square: Discovering a Modern Masterpiece.

Susan has received numerous recognitions, most recently the Medal in Historic Preservation from the Garden Club of America (2022). Other signficant recognitions include: American Society of Landscape Architects Honorary Member; Frederick Law Olmsted Award for Distinguished Leadership; Grady Clay Award for Community Leadership; National Association of Olmsted Parks Caroline Loughlin Service Award; Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Initiative Award; and Garden Writers Association of America Award of Excellence. Susan also has served on the boards of organizations such as the National Association of Olmsted Parks, Ujamaa Collective, and the Penn State Stuckeman College of Arts and Architecture. Susan Rademacher graduated from Miami University in Ohio and completed a Loeb Fellowship at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Honorary Member since 2017.