News

Tad Read (MDes 04) appointed acting director of planning at the Boston Redevelopment Authority

John “Tad” Read (MDes ’04), a senior planner with the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), has been appointed the BRA’s acting director of planning.

Read has been with the BRA since 2007 and has been involved in several neighborhood planning projects, including the Columbia Point Master Plan and the Melnea Cass Boulevard Design Project. He generally has focused on transit-oriented development, transportation, land use and sustainability planning, with current projects that include the Mt. Vernon Street Design Project, South Station Master Plan, and Allston Interchange Project.

Before studying at the GSD, Read led neighborhood and transportation planning projects in southern California, including a stint as housing administrator for the City of Santa Monica. He earned a master’s in architecture and urban planning from UCLA in the 80s.

Read’s appointment follows the dismissal of longtime planner Kairos Shen, announced by the Boston Globe on Wednesday, May 20 in an article in which GSD professors Jerold Kayden and Alex Krieger, among others, discuss Shen’s work.