Loretta Lorance Bio, 1957-2011

Loretta Jo Lorance (September 13, 1957 – February 26, 2011) was an architectural historian, scholar and author. Her primary work "Becoming Bucky Fuller" (MIT Press, 2009), explained the events surrounding Fuller's evolution from an unknown house builder to a world famous figure. It was based on her 2004 dissertation, “Building Values: Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion House in Context.” Professor Rosemarie Haag Bletter, City College Of New York, was her advisor. 

Ms. Lorance was Architecture Professor at CUNY and Humanities Professor at the School Of Visual Arts - New York. She also taught at Fordham University Rose Hill and Parsons School Of Design. Ms. Lorance taught many students over many years with a teaching style that blended structured readings with unstructured anecdotes. 

Ms. Lorance was active in the the Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association. During her tenure the Association grew from a small regional gathering of close knit scholars to a major academic organization boasting global membership. She served as president, area chair, conference organizer, and membership coordinator. After her passing, the Association established the Loretta Lorance Volunteer Recognition Award in her name. It is granted to a member who has contributed to the growth and success of the Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association through service and leadership.

Daughter of Glenn Emery Lorance and Lola Ruth Dunlap, Ms. Lorance graduated the University of Illinois in the late 1970’s. She spent the last decades of her life teaching in New York City, with her long-term partner Anthony Lagonigro, artist and graduate of the School Of Visual Arts, by her side. She passed away in February 2011 at Calvary Hospital, New York City, after a long struggle with cancer. Following her cremation in New York, a private memorial ceremony was held in Vincennes, Illinois.

The editors of the Becoming Bucky blog continue Ms. Lorance’s work on Buckminster Fuller, the history of industrial-produced housing and the changing status of women regarding housing and shelter. This blog and all the Group’s activities are inspired by Loretta Lorance’s high standards of research, and honor her memory with our continued investigations into the lines of research that she trail-blazed and published. 

For more information, see the entry on Loretta Lorance in the Encyclopedia of Tensegrity.