Professor Stapleford received a B.A. From Duke University in 1961, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the New York University Institute of Fine Arts in 1963 and 1974 respectively.

Professor Stapleford teaches the fall semester of ARCH 125, History of Architecture II. Besides teaching the history of Renaissance and Baroque architecture Professor Stapleford has published on Late Roman architecture and Renaissance and Baroque painting, including articles on Botticelli, Velazquez and Renaissance patronage. He has published catalogues and curated exhibitions in New York City on contemporary painters and on the architecture of the movie house in America. He was recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship for study in Italy as well as the Rome Prize for Art History at the American Academy in Rome.