OUR MISSION

Mount Auburn Cemetery inspires all who visit, comforts the bereaved, and commemorates the dead in a landscape of exceptional beauty.

OUR VISION

We envision a world that celebrates life’s seasons, preserves natural beauty, and remembers human stories.

OUR VALUES

Our values define our beliefs and commitments; they are guideposts for our daily work and our future plans. Every day we seek to embody them in our relationships with visitors, families, neighboring communities, and our own staff.

Openness – Welcome

Offering an open door and a welcoming face to all who come here, of every faith, background, identity, and circumstance. Embracing and inclusive to visitors, clients, employees, and volunteers of all identities and backgrounds.

Compassion – Dignity

Respecting all those who come to Mount Auburn for comfort, solace, respite, and work. Aspiring to be of comfort and service to all. Approaching everyone with a sense of caring and understanding. Demonstrating and embodying a belief in the inherent worth of all people.

Beauty – Serenity

Creating and celebrating beauty and fostering a place of serenity for all who seek it. Evoking the essential experience of Mount Auburn as a landscape, a place of beauty, and a source of serenity. Nurturing our defining aesthetic—human experience and nature together. The

Stewardship – Sustainability

Protecting and preserving the history, residents, monuments, structures, collections, and resources of Mount Auburn forever. Caring for the landscape and fostering its health and environmental sustainability in a dynamic and changing world. Leading others toward models and practices for environmental sustainability.

Integrity – Balance

Pursuing the highest standards in our work and practices; striving for quality and consistency of thinking, practice, and outcome. Balancing the many facets of Mount Auburn’s mission within a complementary whole; realizing that the excellence of each facet depends on maintaining the strength and quality of all the others. Encouraging harmony and proportion as essential aspects of Mount Auburn’s beauty and sense of serenity.

Mount Auburn Cemetery’s Council of Visitors is comprised of Cemetery friends, leaders in horticulture, historic preservation, educational programming, landscape enhancement, and community leaders who support the Cemetery in accomplishing its mission and maintaining the highest standards of excellence.  Learn more about the Council of Visitors.

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Mount Auburn Cemetery Council of Visitors 2020

Caroline Mortimer, Co-Chair
Franklin A. Reece III, Co-Chair
John S. Airasian, Founding Member
Jane M. Carroll, Founding Member
Elizabeth B. Johnson, Founding Member
Susan W. Paine, Founding Member

Helen Abrams
Rowena Alston
Peter W. Ambler
Melissa Banta
Claude L. Benoit
Stephanie Berk
Willa C. Bodman
Virginia J. Brady
Joanna H. Breyer
Cindy Brockway
Eliza E. Burden
W. Douglas Burden
Sharon Bushnell
Patricia Capone
Elizabeth Caraballo-Wesley
Martha Chayet
William C. Clendaniel, President Emeritus
Elizabeth D. Coxe
Peter Del Tredici
Suzanne R. Dworsky
Suzanne W. Dworsky
Alan Emmet
Luise Erdmann
Karen Falb
Peter Falb
David Forney
Patrick Gabridge
Philip V. Gerdine
Liz Goodfellow Zagoroff
Patricia N. Grandieri
Robert J. Gustavson
Craig Halvorson
Anne Hawley
Jonathan Hecht
Peter Hiam
Luisa Hunnewell
Nora Huvelle
Bruce Irving
Ann Holton Jenne
Laura Johnson
Wendall C. Kalsow
Joseph Koerner
Clare Walker Leslie
Jane B. Levitt
Lauren MacCarthy
Christina Mann
Joe Martinez
Brooks Mathewson
Roberto Mighty
Kyra L. Montagu
Jeanne Mooney
Joel Mooney
Marian Morash
Russell Morash
Susan Morris
H. Betsy Munzer
Mark Kimball Nichols
Denise Pappas
Erik C. Park
Wayne Petersen
Donald Pfister
Stephen Pinkerton
Frances G. Pratt
Harold I. Pratt
Nancy Rappaport
David Russo
Alison Sander
Oliver C. Scholle
Julia Sheehan
E. Denise Simmons
Sherley Gardner-Smith
Rosemarie Smurzynski
James M. Storey
Patricia L. Straus
Bob Stymeist
Ruth Thomasian
Claudia Thompson
Kate Thompson
Pamela W. Turner
Liz Vizza
Kristen Wainwright
Matt Walter
Mary Webb
Louise E. Weed
Jason Weeks
Charlie Welch
Melvin D. Wesley
Rosemary Wilson
Elizabeth Wylde

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MOUNT AUBURN CEMETERY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Robert Airasian, Jr.
Eliza S. Anderson
David P. Barnett, President & CEO
Lindsay Leard Coolidge
Thomas C. Cooper
Dean Hara
James F. Hunnewell, Jr.
Patricia B. Jacoby, Chair
Paul Kuenstner
Philip Laird, Secretary
James N. Levitt
Sean McDonnell, Treasurer
Susan Eldredge Mead
Tony Morris
Caroline V. Mortimer
Laura L. Nash
Niels C. Peetz-Larsen
Rick Peiser
Franklin A. Reece

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FRIENDS OF MOUNT AUBURN CEMETERY TRUSTEES

Caroline Mortimer, Chair
Eliza Anderson, Vice Chair
Sean McDonnell, Secretary & Treasurer
David P. Barnett
Lindsay Leard Coolidge

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HONORARY TRUSTEES

Peter S. Ashton
William C. Clendaniel, President Emeritus
Hamilton Coolidge
Marion R. Fremont-Smith
Robert A. Lawrence
Susan W. Paine (Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery)
James M. Storey
William A. Truslow

Mount Auburn’s leadership is responsible for carrying out the Cemetery’s mission and its vision for the future.

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PRESIDENT & CEO
David P. Barnett

“It was my lifelong love of horticulture that first led me to Mount Auburn. Over time, I have come to cherish all the dimensions of the Cemetery mission. It is a wonderful, sacred trust to help lead this living museum and vibrant cultural institution.”      

Mount Auburn has been led by President & CEO Dave Barnett since 2008. Prior to 2008, Barnett served as Vice President of Horticulture & Operations. Barnett began his tenure at Mount Auburn in 1993 as the Cemetery’s first Director of Horticulture.

Barnett holds a Ph.D. in ecology from the University of California at Davis. His many professional awards include a Distinguished Service Medal from the Garden Club of America and an Honorary Life Member designation from the American Public Gardens Association.

Contact Dave Barnett at dbarnett@mountauburn.org.

EXECUTIVE STAFF

Under Dr. Barnett’s leadership, Mount Auburn’s executive staff work collaboratively to oversee the Cemetery’s core areas of activity and achieve its strategic goals.

Michael Albano, Executive Vice President & CFO

Gus Fraser, Vice President of Preservation & Facilities

Jenny Gilbert, Director of Institutional Advancement

Bree Harvey, Vice President of Cemetery & Visitor Services

GOVERNANCE

Mount Auburn Cemetery is governed and supported by a Board of Trustees that bring expertise from the private, public, and non-profit sectors.

The Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery, an independent 501(c)3 non-profit organization with its own Executive Committee, supports the conservation of Mount Auburn’s natural and cultural resources and promotes public appreciation of the Cemetery’s many facets through programs and educational efforts. Funds raised through the Friends support visitor services, education, horticulture, preservation, and historical collections.

A 130-person Council of Visitors, including community members and leaders in horticulture, historic preservation, educational programming, and landscape design, provides the Cemetery with additional support and expertise.