Draft:Greg Werkheiser
Attorney Greg Werkheiser
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Greg Werkheiser (born November 1, 1973) is an American attorney, technology entrepreneur, and leadership educator. He is a cofounder and partner of Cultural Heritage Partners, PLLC, a law firm whose work addresses cultural heritage and civil rights issues, including matters involving Indigenous and African American historic sites, National Historic Landmarks, cultural property restitution, and monuments on public land. Werkheiser is also cofounder and chief executive officer of ARtGlass, an augmented-reality technology company focused on cultural tourism and heritage interpretation. His work in leadership and civic education includes founding initiatives in civic engagement, social entrepreneurship, and cross-sector problem-solving, and he has received recognition from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
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Gregory Alan Werkheiser | |
|---|---|
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| Born | November 1, 1973 Easton, Pennsylvania |
| Education | College of William & Mary (BA); University of Virginia School of Law (JD) |
| Website | culturalheritagepartners |
Early life and education
Werkheiser was born on November 1, 1973[1], in northeastern Pennsylvania and was raised in the Pocono Mountains.[2] His parents owned small businesses providing home cleaning, facilities maintenance, and plumbing services.[3]
He attended Pleasant Valley High School, graduating in 1992.[4] While saving money for college, he worked a variety of jobs, including in an industrial laundry.[5] Werkheiser was admitted to the College of William & Mary but initially lacked sufficient financial resources to enroll and planned to continue working. After learning of his circumstances, a stranger provided financial assistance that enabled him to attend.[6] The donor did not expect repayment but encouraged Werkheiser to contribute positively to the institution, and support others in the future.[7] At William & Mary, Werkheiser was active in student government and advocacy. As a freshman, he was elected president of the campus Young Democrats chapter[8], and as a sophomore he was elected student body president.[9] His campaign included a proposal to install cable and high-speed Internet access campuswide, which the college implemented.[10] As a junior, he co-founded the college’s NAACP chapter.[11][12][13]
During his junior and senior years, Werkheiser co-founded and led[14][15] the Virginia Student Coalition, a statewide student advocacy organization representing students from public universities.[16] The coalition opposed proposals to shift public funding from higher education to prison construction;[17] the proposed funding changes were ultimately not enacted.[18] He also led a successful effort opposing the state government’s proposed sale of Lake Matoaka, a portion of the William & Mary campus.[19][20][21]
Werkheiser graduated from William & Mary with a Bachelor of Arts in Government in 1996.[22] He received his Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2000.[23]
Law career
Early practice
After graduating from law school, Werkheiser joined the Washington, D.C., office of Piper Rudnick LLP, later part of DLA Piper.[24] He practiced commercial litigation and was recognized as Pro-Bono Lawyer of the Year in 2002.[25] In 2004, Werkheiser joined Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, now known as Womble Bond Dickinson.[26]
Cultural Heritage Partners, PLLC
In 2010, Werkheiser co-founded Cultural Heritage Partners, PLLC, a law firm focused on the protection of cultural heritage and related civil rights matters.[27] The firm’s work has included cases involving archaeology, artifacts, art, architecture, historic landscapes, burial grounds, sacred sites, and traditional knowledge and practices.
Werkheiser has advocated for the recognition of access to cultural heritage as a human right. In 2024, he argued in a keynote address at an international human rights law conference in Florence, Italy, advancing this position.[28] He has also spoken at SXSW where he described the destruction of Black and Indigenous cultural heritage as a human rights concern.[29] He has publicly criticized certain federal policies that, in his view, weakened cultural heritage institutions.[30] In 2023, Werkheiser received the Simons Medal of Excellence for contributions to cultural heritage preservation and technology.[31]
Notable cases and work
Indigenous heritage preservation
Werkheiser’s early work in cultural heritage law included representing the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation[32] in litigation concerning the Black Creek Site in Sussex County, New Jersey.[33] The site contains archaeological evidence documenting thousands of years of Native American occupation.[34]The litigation addressed whether the site was eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places and entitled to protection from planned municipal development.[35] Following several years of litigation, the site was preserved[36] and later incorporated into a state park.[37] Werkheiser’s team received the New Jersey Governor’s Award for Historic Preservation.[38]
He has since represented tribal governments in matters involving state and federal recognition, burial protections, and sacred sites. This work included litigation during the administration of Governor Chris Christie challenging New Jersey’s withdrawal of state recognition of multiple tribal nations after decades of prior recognition.[39] The suits alleged violations of federal and state due process and equal-protection guarantees.[40] After several years of litigation, the state restored recognition and entered into a monetary settlement agreement.[41]
Werkheiser also represented the Monacan Indian Nation in efforts to preserve Rassawek, the tribe’s historic capital in Virginia.[42][43] Rassawek appeared on Captain John Smith’s 1612 map of Virginia and is associated with Native burials.[44] The site was threatened by plans to construct a water pumping station.[45] In 2020, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named Rassawek one of America’s Most Endangered Historic Places.[46] The project was relocated, and the site was preserved.[47]
Werkheiser and co-counsel at the Native American Rights Fund represent the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska in litigation against the United States Army[48] seeking the return of the remains of tribal children who died at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School.[49] The case demonstrates violations of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.[50]
African American history and monuments
Werkheiser has served as lead counsel in matters involving African American history and the legacy of slavery, including disputes over Confederate monuments and the governance of historic sites.[51]
Following nationwide protests in 2020, he and his team developed a legal strategy used by the City of Richmond, Virginia, to invoke emergency powers to remove Confederate monuments from municipal property.[52] The City successfully defended the approach against legal challenges and removed more than a dozen monuments.[53]
Werkheiser later represented a group of nearby homeowners, known as Circle Neighbors, in litigation supporting the removal of the Robert E. Lee Monument from state-owned land.[54] The Virginia Supreme Court held that removal was permissible[55], and the monument was removed in September 2021.[56]
He represented the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia in acquiring ownership of several removed monuments.[57] He emphasized their potential use as educational interpretation instead of symbols of honor.[58]
Werkheiser also represented the Montpelier Descendants Committee, composed of descendants of enslaved people at James Madison’s Montpelier, in efforts related to governance of the historic site.[59] In 2022, the Montpelier Foundation rescinded a power-sharing agreement with descendants and dismissed staff members who had supported the descendants’ group.[60] The dispute drew national attention[61] to broader questions about governance and historical interpretation at U.S. historic sites.[62] Following subsequent advocacy, Montpelier restructured its board, seated a majority of descendant representatives, rehired terminated staff, and appointed a new president.[63] It has been described as the first U.S. cultural institution to implement shared governance with descendants of enslaved people.[64][65]
Stolen art and antiquities repatriation
Werkheiser has represented clients in cases involving the recovery and repatriation of stolen art and antiquities. Among these was his representation of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, a Boston organization founded in the 18th century by Paul Revere and other artisans.[66] The case concerned Wounded Indian, an 1850 life-sized marble sculpture by Peter Stephenson, donated to the Association in 1893.[67] The sculpture was believed accidentally destroyed and discarded during a building relocation in 1958 but later resurfaced intact in the collection of the Chrysler Museum of Art after being donated by art collector James Ricau.[68] In 2023, following prolonged public advocacy, the museum agreed to return the sculpture to the Association.[69] Coverage of the case highlighted broader issues of museum provenance practices.[70]
Historic landmarks protection
In 2026, Werkheiser and co-counsel, representing a coalition of eight national preservation and architectural organizations, filed a federal lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump's plans to substantially alter the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts without securing congressional authorization and without compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act.[71]
In 2025, Werkheiser filed a federal lawsuit challenging actions by President Trump related to proposed exterior alterations to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB), a National Historic Landmark adjacent to the White House.[72] The complaint alleged that the proposed work required compliance with federal environmental and historic preservation laws.[73][74] The White House issued a public statement that Werkheiser and fellow plaintiffs suffered from “Trump derangement syndrome,” while agreeing in court to refrain from alterations while the case was pending.[75][76]
Coastal preservation
Werkheiser has represented municipal governments and preservation organizations in historic coastal communities, including Nantucket, Cape May County[77], Block Island, and Newport[78] in matters involving offshore wind permitting decisions by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.[79] These matters have raised questions about federal environmental review and historic preservation consultation under federal law, particularly with respect to focusing on potential impacts on historic landscapes, cultural resources, and heritage tourism economies.[80]
He represented the Town of Nantucket in connection with damages following the failure of an offshore wind turbine blade near the island.[81] In July 2024, a turbine blade from the Vineyard Wind project failed offshore, depositing debris on Nantucket’s beaches and affecting the tourism season.[82] In 2025, turbine manufacturer GE Vernova agreed to a $10.5 million settlement with the town.[83]
Technology career
Werkheiser is the chief executive officer of ARtGlass, a technology company he co-founded in 2017.[84][85] The company has offices in Richmond, Virginia, and Milan, Italy.[86] It develops wearable augmented-reality applications for cultural and historic sites, using transparent smartglasses to overlay digital content onto physical environments for site-based interpretation and storytelling.[87]
In 2018, ARtGlass launched a wearable augmented-reality tour at Highland, the historic home of President James Monroe. Media coverage described the project as the first sustained deployment of smartglasses-based augmented-reality at a U.S. historic site.[88] The company has since expanded its technology to archaeological parks, museums, aquariums, sports venues, and other cultural sites.[89][90] It has also deployed projects in Europe and the Middle East.[91]
ARtGlass has partnered with smartglasses hardware developers including Epson and Snap Inc.[92][93] By 2025, the company reported that its clients had delivered more than 4 million tours at more than 100 sites,[94] including Pompeii,[95] George Washington’s Mount Vernon,[96] and Hegra[97] in Saudi Arabia. The company holds multiple patents related to augmented-reality tour creation and site-based interpretation technologies.US 11087134, "Augmented reality smartglasses for use at cultural sites" US 12400150, "Graphical user interface to create palimpsests" US 11983396, "Generating augmented reality tours"
Leadership education career
Werkheiser has worked in leadership and civic education, with a focus on civic engagement, nonprofit leadership, social entrepreneurship, and cross-sector problem-solving. His work has been examined by academic and philanthropic institutions, including the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, which documented aspects of his approach in Educating for Democracy: Preparing Undergraduates for Responsible Political Engagement.[98]
In 1996, he co-founded the Virginia Citizenship Institute,[99] which developed bipartisan civic education programs for college and high school students.[100] The organization was later incorporated into the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at the University of Virginia.[101]
In 1998, Werkheiser co-designed the Pamela Harriman Foreign Service Fellowships,[102] a program administered by the College of William & Mary in partnership with the U.S. Department of State that places students in diplomatic posts in Paris, London, and Washington, D.C.[103]
In 2006, he also co-founded the Phoenix Project, which developed social entrepreneurship education and programming in economically distressed communities.[104] The project received the Virginia Governor’s Award for Community Service in 2009.[105] The organization later became part of the Mason Center for Social Entrepreneurship at George Mason University, where Werkheiser served as its inaugural managing director.[106]
In 2012, Werkheiser was recruited as the founding director of what became the Presidio Institute,[107][108] a leadership development center based at the Presidio of San Francisco and focused on cross-sector leadership across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.[109]
In 2016, Werkheiser and collaborators developed the ARCUS Leadership Program, focused on leadership development in the history and preservation fields. In 2022, the American Association for State and Local History acquired the program.[110]
Political scientist Quentin Kidd described Werkheiser as a “nationally recognized civic entrepreneur” in Civic Participation in America.[111] Werkheiser also contributed to The Civic Mission of Schools (2003),[112] a report that helps inform the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools, a network of 51 state-level initiatives promoting civic education.[113]
Political activity
In the mid-1990s, Werkheiser worked in political communications and public service. In 1995, he wrote speeches at the White House for President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton.[114] In 1996, he worked as a speechwriter for U.S. Ambassador to France Pamela Harriman at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, and assisted the U.S. Information Agency with international press coordination during the G-7 Summit.[115]
He later assisted with campaign speechwriting and student outreach for Mark Warner’s 1996 U.S. Senate campaign.[116] In 2002, Virginia Governor Mark Warner appointed Werkheiser to the Virginia Commission on National and Community Service,[117] which he chaired.[118]
Werkheiser was the Democratic nominee for the Virginia House of Delegates in the 42nd district in 2005 and 2009, challenging incumbent Dave Albo.[119] His platform included positions on public education, transportation, electoral reform, civil rights, and child welfare.[120] The Washington Post endorsed him in both campaigns.[121][122] He received 48 percent of the vote in 2005 and 43 percent in 2009.[123][124] Contemporary media coverage described his fundraising as record-breaking for a challenger in a Virginia House of Delegates race.[125]