Cliveden of the National Trust is now under the direction of a Northwest Philly native, with the appointment of Nancy VanDolsen as its new chief executive officer earlier this month.

VanDolsen, who was born in Germantown, has more than 30 years of experience in historic preservation and museums, and harbors a deep passion for 18th and 19th century American architecture and museums. She served as the founding director of the North Carolina Museum of the Coastal Plain, a regional museum in eastern North Carolina, and incorporated the museum into the Imagination Station Science & History Museum when she was appointed as executive director of both institutions in 2013.

In addition to her museum experience, VanDolsen wrote or was a major contributor to three books on regional architecture. Over the course of her career, she taught at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC, University of Laval in Quebec, and Barton College in Wilson, NC.