Robert F. Bristol was born September 20, 1940, the first of two children born to Leona Pattee Barot. He is a 12th generation family in America with his 2nd and 3rd generation fighting in the Revolutionary Battle of Bunker Hill. Robert is a 1958 Hudson Falls Central School graduate. He received a Bachelor’s and Master’s of Landscape Architecture from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) at Syracuse University (in 1963 and 1966, respectively). In 1979, he was awarded a Master’s of Business Administration from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, NY. He briefly attended Union University’s Albany Law School in 1999.
Robert started a sole practice of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning in Lake George in 1968. He expanded that firm moving to Saratoga Springs in 1970. It later became known as Saratoga Associates and one of the largest multidisciplinary design firms in upstate New York. His national peers elected him a Fellow of Landscape Architecture in 1994. He taught at ESF first as an instructor and later as a visiting graduate program professor. For many years, he taught as an Adjunct Associate Professor in the RPI School of Architecture and Management. He taught a special summer course for several years at Harvard Graduate School of Design.
In his 40 plus years of private practice, Robert developed extensive experience on sensitive environmental planning topics. He has lectured and published numerous articles and scholarly papers. He is very proud to have been one of the people who expanded New York State Environmental Quality Review Act to include nationally recognized visual impact assessment policy. He has been a long-standing member of a joint legislative commission charged with recodifying land use statutes in New York State. His community volunteer commitments are many and he always expressed an ethical and moral obligation to give back to the community. He instilled these ideals in his son and daughter.
Robert cherished his time in the Hudson Falls Central School District, but knew his Hermes’ “Most School Spirit” moniker would require much greater due diligence, hard work, and dedication to earn the right to serve his community.