A leading expert in architectural history, historic preservation and planning, Margarita C. Jerabek, PhD, has distinguished herself across a career spanning more than four decades. Since 2023, she has served as historic resources strategic development director at Environmental Science Associates (ESA) — an environmental planning firm she initially joined in 2006 as director of historic resources. In her current role, Dr. Jerabek’s extensive experience and technical expertise has been instrumental in advancing the organization’s mission. Important award-winning projects have included rehabilitation of a historic 14.3-acre motion-picture studio, The Culver Studios, established in 1918 in Culver City, California; conservation of the Montebello branch of Home Savings and Loan designed by nationally prominent artist Millard Sheets; creation of a permanent exhibit on the significant mosaics and stained glass art by the Millard Sheets Design Company; and rehabilitation of the National Register-listed Dunbar Hotel on Central Avenue in Los Angeles.
Among Dr. Jerabek’s most significant professional accomplishments is her conservation work for the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) Queen Mary, an internationally recognized historic vessel, now permanently berthed in Long Beach Harbor, California. She conducted a comprehensive survey of more than 4,000 significant pieces of art, decorative arts, and artifacts aboard the ship and prepared the Conservation Management Plan for the Royal Mail Ship Queen Mary in 2010, underscoring her dedication to preserving cultural treasures for future generations.
Since 2025, Dr. Jerabek has served on the board of QMI (Queen Mary International), a community 501C3 non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the history and collections of the RMS Queen Mary. These efforts reflect her passion for working hands-on with significant cultural heritage resources in the service of historic preservation, a trait that she directly credits for the success of her career. She has also demonstrated her commitment to the field by serving on the Education Committee, conducting webinars and conference sessions for the California Preservation Foundation, publishing articles and lecturing on historic preservation at state universities, and serving in the Society of Architectural Historians Mentorship Program, even as she has faced and overcome significant health challenges. As a further sign of her commitment to her discipline, Dr. Jerabek is a life member of the Society of Architectural Historians, and is active with several professional industry-related organizations including the Santa Monica Conservancy where she serves on the Preservation Design Award Committee, and she is a member of the Los Angeles Conservancy, and a national allied member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).
Prior to joining ESA, Dr. Jerabek held the position of senior architectural historian and technical lead for several years at EDAW (now AECOM) in Los Angeles, where she contributed her insight into complex preservation initiatives and environmental impact studies, such as the exterior finishes and paint analysis report for three historic buildings at Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD), in San Diego, California, and the historical resources technical studies for the environmental impact report for the Laurel Place Senior Housing Project in West Hollywood, California, for which she received a letter of commendation from the California Office of Historic Preservation. For nearly a decade, beginning in 1995 in Fairfax, Virginia, she was senior architectural historian at Parsons Engineering Science, solidifying her reputation for excellence in historic resource evaluation and preservation planning in the Mid-Atlantic Region and throughout the nation, including several important projects for the Department of Defense such as the Historic Buildings Maintenance Plan for the U.S. Army Garrison in Selfridge, Macomb County, Michigan, and the Integrated Cultural Resource Management Plan (ICRMP) for cultural and historic resources on National Guard facilities throughout Arkansas. This was preceded by key years from 1991to 1995 as an architectural historian with John Milner Associates (now MTFA Design + Preservation) in Alexandria, Virginia, one of the nation’s premier historic preservation firms, where she completed notable projects such as Documentary Research for the Rehabilitation of the Thurmond Depot and the Installation of a Visitors Center, New River Gorge National River in West Virginia, and architectural history and material culture research for Tudor Hall at the Pamplin Historical Park Civil War Site in Petersburg, Virginia.
Dr. Jerabek’s early professional career began in 1988 as an architectural historian with Land and Community Associates in Charlotteville, Virginia, where she worked on notable projects such as the survey of state-owned properties for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (VDHR) and the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) Reports and Preservation Plan for the Portsmouth Naval Hospital’s officer’s quarters and support buildings in Portsmouth, Virginia. In 1991, she also served as a volunteer curatorial intern at the National Building Museum, in Washington, D.C.
Well-regarded for contributions to the field, Dr. Jerabek has been recognized with numerous accolades. Among others, in 2026 she received a Preservation Award from Long Beach Heritage for conservation of “Unicorns in Battle” artwork in RMS Queen Mary, and a Preservation Design Award from the California Preservation Foundation for a historic structure report for the Second Baptist Church in Los Angeles. She has received other Preservation Design Awards from the California Preservation Foundation in 2012, 2016, 2023, and 2024 in the categories of Historic Resource Report, Interpretive Exhibit, Reconstruction, and Rehabilitation. She received a Preservation Award in 2014 from the Los Angeles Conservancy for Rehabilitation of the Dunbar Hotel, the 2014 Westside Prize in Rehabilitation from the Westside Urban Forum, a 2018 Merit Award for Environmental Analysis from the California Association of Environmental Professionals (AEP), a 2020 Award of Excellence in Environmental Analysis from the American Planning Association (APA) for The Culver Studios, and the 2020 Gold Nugget Award of Merit for Best Rehabilitation Project for the Commissary at the Groves at Whittier from the Pacific Coast Builders Conference.
Dr. Jerabek’s professional experience is complemented by her academic education, pursued in tandem with her professional career. She gained valuable academic experience as a doctoral candidate and graduate teaching assistant in the Art History Department at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she specialized in modern architecture, urbanism, and critical theory, and graduated in 2005 with a dissertation titled “Adolf Loos in Central European Culture.” Her early foundational roles included tenure as a library assistant in the Ibero-American Bibliography Department at the University of Virginia’s Alderman Library under Dr. Jared Loewenstein, and as a candidate in architectural history and graduate teaching assistant in the Architectural History Department of the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture, where she graduated in 1991 with a master’s degree and Certificate of Historic Preservation.
As a college student in art history at Oberlin College, Dr. Jerabek served as a library assistant to the slide librarian in the Art Library, and was guest curator for sesquicentennial exhibits on historic costumes and architecture in the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, in Oberlin, Ohio, where she graduated in 1983. She is proficient in several languages including German, French, and Czech, and speaks conversational Spanish. She has received several fellowships in recognition of her academic achievements including the Travel Fellowship in the History of Art from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation in 1999 and 2000, the Advancement to Candidacy Fund Fellowship from the Department of Art History at UCLA in 1999 and 2000, a Dissertation Year Fellowship from the Graduate Fellowship Division of UCLA in 1998 and 1999, and an Edward A. Dickson History of Art Fellowship from the Department of Art History at UCLA in 1997 and 1998.
Likewise, Dr. Jerabek was bestowed with a Pre-Dissertation Fellowship from the Center for European and Russian Studies at UCLA in 1997, a Pre-Dissertation Fellowship in East European Studies from the American Council of Learned Societies in 1996, a Grant-in-Aid from the Center for European and Russian Studies at UCLA in 1996, an Entering Graduate Fellowship from the Department of Art History at UCLA in 1995 and 1996, and the Architecture Summer School Scholarship at The Victorian Society in America in Philadelphia in 1985. She was further distinguished with a Graduate Fellowship, a Dupont Fellowship, and a Thomas Jefferson Fellowship from the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia between 1983 and 1985, a Governor’s State Graduate Fellowship from the University of Virginia between 1983 and 1985, and Oberlin College Scholarship from 1980 to 1983.
Known for her generosity, accessibility, supportiveness, diligence and discipline, Dr. Jerabek is widely regarded by colleagues as a dependable and dedicated leader. In the years ahead, she is committed to giving back by supporting aspiring professionals entering careers in architectural history and preservation. Dr. Jerabek hopes to ensure that future generations benefit from her depth of experience and unwavering devotion to excellence. Her daughter, Helen C. Wuellner, Esq., holds a bachelor’s degree in language and linguistics from UC Santa Cruz, and a law degree with a specialization in Environmental Law from UC Davis, and currently serves as an attorney for the California State Water Resources Control Board.