People

James K. Reap, J.D. is an attorney and professor emeritus of the College of Environment and Design at the University of Georgia, where he directed the Historic Preservation Program (2014-2025) and the University’s study abroad program in Croatia (2007-13, 2018-2022). He also holds affiliate faculty appointments in the Department of Classics and the African Studies Institute. He was a Fulbright Scholar at the Jordan Institute of Science and Technology and a visiting professor at the Orenburg Institute of the Moscow State Law Academy. He has more than four decades of experience in historic preservation and cultural heritage law, with teaching and research focused on heritage law, planning, and international preservation policy. His published work addresses legal frameworks, conflict, and sustainability in heritage conservation.

Reap has worked with UNESCO, the U.S. Department of State, the International Institute for Central Asian Studies (IICAS), the Organization of American States, and ICOMOS on cultural heritage projects in Central Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Middle East. He was appointed by President Barack Obama to the U.S. Cultural Property Advisory Committee and currently serves as Vice President of the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield.

He has held leadership roles in the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) serving as President of its International Committee on Legal, Administrative, and Financial Issues (ICLAFI) and as an officer of the ICOMOS Scientific Council. He currently serves as Vice President of ICOMOS USA. A Fellow of US/ICOMOS,

Professor Reap is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation and Easements Atlanta. Reap has served as chair of the preservation commissions in the City of Decatur and DeKalb County and as vice chair in Athens, Georgia and has provided training and technical assistance to historic preservation commissions throughout the United States for the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions. He is a past board member of the Lawyers’ Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation. Locally, he has served as President of the Athens Historical Society and the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation (now Historic Athens).

His background in planning includes service as Georgia’s first regional preservation planner and as Deputy Executive Director of the Northeast Georgia Area Planning and Development Commission (now Northeast Georgia Regional Commission). He has served in several Georgia state agencies including Departments of Archives and History, Natural Resources, and Technical and Adult Education (now the Technical College System of Georgia).