Commissioner Edwin Fountain on the World War 1 Memorial

How do you generate interest, excitement, and relevance for a memorial for a war that took place over 100 years ago? Join us as Commissioner Edwin Fountain talks about historical memorials, the World War 1 Centennial Commission, and the design competition.

Edwin Fountain of Arlington, Virginia has served as General Counsel of the American Battle Monuments Commission since March 2015. He was previously a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of the international law firm Jones Day, where he practiced for 24 years.  Edwin served as board chair of the DC Preservation League, the leading historic preservation advocacy group in the nation's capital, until 2007.  In 2008 he co-founded the World War I Memorial Foundation, which successfully advocated for funding to restore the District of Columbia's World War I memorial on the National Mall, and for establishment of a national World War I memorial in the nation's capital.  That advocacy led to his appointment in 2013 as a member of the U.S. World  War I Centennial Commission, which he now serves as Vice Chairman.  Among his other civic activities, Edwin is a past member of the Arlington County Commission for the Arts, and is a board member and past president of Bowen McCauley Dance, the leading contemporary dance company in the Washington area.  He graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1986, obtained a master’s degree in international relations from the London School of Economics, and attended law school at the University of Virginia.