Preservationist and arts administrator Adele Chatfield-Taylor received her undergraduate degree in art history from Manhattanville College (1966) and a graduate degree in historic preservation from Columbia University (1973).  She was a co-founder of the New York firm Urban Deadline Architects in 1968, and five years later joined the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission.  She served as director of the New York Landmarks Preservation Foundation from 1980 to 1984 and was director of the Design Arts Program of the National Endowment for the Arts from 1984 to 1988. 

From 1988 to 2013, Chatfield-Taylor served as president of the American Academy in Rome.  Her many honors and awards include a Loeb Fellowship from Harvard University in 1978, a Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome in 1983, and the Vincent Scully Prize from the National Building Museum in 2010.  She has been an adjunct member of the faculty at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University.  Her many affiliations include Preservation ACTION, the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions, and the US/International Council on Monuments and Sites.

She is part of the delegation visiting Cuba as part of a U.S. government cultural mission taking place from April 18-21, 2016. "(President Barack Obama) described his trip as extending the hand of friendship to the Cuban people, and this delegation, including some of America’s most distinguished writers, artists, musicians, as well as arts and cultural leaders, will continue this historic collaboration with the Cuban people." - arts.gov