Kathy Spiegelman
Design Critic in Urban Planning and Design
Department of Urban Planning and Design
Kathy Spiegelman is currently the Chief Planner in the Allston Development Group at Harvard University. Her responsibilities include overseeing the complex and ongoing physical planning necessary to lay the foundation for the development of Harvard's land holdings in Allston. Kathy's previous positions at Harvard included head of Harvard Planning + Allston Initiative, Associate Vice President for Planning and Real Estate (HPRE) and Director of Planning. Under Kathy's leadership the intensive Allston planning process was launched. Kathy is an experienced planner and negotiator working on project and area planning across the campus as well as town/gown relations including the negotiation of PILOT agreements. Earlier in her career, Kathy served the City of Cambridge as Assistant City Manager in charge of community development. While in the public sector, Kathy gained invaluable expertise in land use planning, regulatory changes and enforcement, urban design planning, site reuse and political consensus building. The work included the redevelopment of underutilized industrial areas in the City, and reuse of a former public school site for the development of single and two family houses consistent with the pattern of development in the surrounding neighborhood. Kathy received her BA with honors from Brown University and her MS in Historic Preservation from the Columbia University School of Architecture and Planning. She does a lot of public speaking, participates on volunteer boards and committees for affordable housing, and has participated in the Power Lunch program of Boston Partners for Education; a program that brings business and industry professionals into the classroom to empower and enrich the experience for students. She is married to an architect and has two teenage children.