News

APA Annual Conference: GSD Student Awarded

At the American Planning Association’s annual conference in Chicago, the GSD Alumni Reception hosted almost 50 alumni and friends at the Chicago Hyatt Hotel.  Ann Forsyth (Professor of Urban Planning) represented the GSD while Alumni Council member Frank Lee (MAUD ’79 and President of Johnson & Lee, Architects/Planners in Chicago) represented the local GSD alumni, in welcoming students, alumni, and friends to Chicago.  In addition to GSD alumni and friends, APA President Mitchell Silver, who lectured in Piper Auditorium in February of this year, joined in the celebration.

Also at the conference, Laura Gilmore (MUP ’13) participated in the award ceremonies for her second place award in the APA Transportation Division Student Paper Competition. Her paper Exploring a Framework for Transportation Justice: The Case of the Green Line Extension was written for the course Environmental Justice and Climate Resilience in Planning and Design, offered in the fall 2012 semester. The paper examines the role that environmental justice issues played in framing arguments for the approval of Boston’s MBTA Green Line extension.

Laura said of the award, “It was a real honor to have (my professor) nominate my paper for the award and to receive Harvard’s nomination to the competition. I was very pleasantly surprised to be awarded second place in the competition.”