Tom White
Why PCH? Why were you interested in joining the PCH Board and working for affordable housing in Princeton? And how long have you been on the Board?
My joining PCH was the result of a fellow parishioner at St. Paul's who thought my mix of experience and technical skills would be a good fit for PCH - she felt that St. Paul's was underrepresented at the time. I don't recall exactly when I joined the Board, but it looks like it was early 2016.
What is your professional background?
I retired at the end of February 2020 from Princeton University's Facilities Operations, where I was a project manager with the title of Preservation Architect. I had worked in that position since 2007. I retired about a week before the University closed down due to the coronavirus. Timing is everything!
Prior to that, I had my own small architectural practice, from early 1994, with projects mainly in the Mercer County area.
Prior to that, I was at the University as an architect in the Office of Physical Planning starting in 1982. For a few years, I worked at a now-defunct architecture firm in Princeton, and before that for several years at the Engineering Bureau for the New Jersey Department of Defense.
What other volunteer activities do you participate in?
I am a member of the Finance Council at St. Paul's. I'm not there for any financial expertise, but to advise on the upkeep of the buildings and grounds and to help with any construction projects that are undertaken.
I am a member of the Town's Historic Preservation Commission and the chair of the Town's Construction Board of Appeals. Thankfully, the Building Department for the Town does an excellent job of guiding contractors through the construction process, so there are very few appeals to that particular board.
How long have you been in the Princeton area and why did you come to this community?
My wife and I moved to Princeton in 1980. We had lived in Lawrence Township, not far from her parents and the house where she grew up. She had somewhat reluctantly agreed to let me build a house, and after several years we had found a piece of vacant land that we could afford, in (surprisingly) Princeton Township. We rented a small apartment in a house in the Borough, which allowed me to be close to the architecture firm I worked for, and to our property so that I could work on the house project. Nearly forty years later, I'm still working on the house, which we moved into in 1992. Sadly, these days there is generally a greater need for maintenance than for making progress on the finishes in the house. So it goes.
What are your hobbies and interests, specifically as they relate to housing?
Hobbies? I guess house-building could be considered a hobby...