Edward J. Blakely, the Center’s namesake, is a distinguished educator and researcher on urban and suburban issues.

Blakely was born in San Bernardino and educated at San Bernardino High School, Valley College and the University of California Riverside, where he quarterbacked the undefeated football team. He subsequently earned a master’s degree in Latin American history at UC Berkeley, an MBA in Organization Management at Pasadena Nazarene College and a doctorate in Education and Management at UCLA.

Currently, Blakely is the Chair of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Sydney, and is the Executive Director of the Office of Recovery and Development Administration for the City of New Orleans.

 Before moving to Sydney, he was the Dean of the Robert J. Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy, New School University in New York City. Earlier, he was Dean and the Lusk Professor of Planning and Development for the School of Urban Planning and Development at the University of Southern California (1994-1999). Previously he served as Professor and Chair of the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of California at Berkeley (1986-1994). Blakely held academic positions in teaching, research, administration, and policy development for more than twenty-five years. He is a leading scholar in the fields of planning, infrastructure, transportation and local economic development. He has also held senior positions at Pacific Telephone company and as a U.S. Foreign Service officer.

Blakely served as a policy advisor to the mayor of Oakland, where he was also a mayoral candidate, and as advisor to the Los Angeles Public School District. In addition, he has served on a number of task forces and commissions at the local, state, national and international levels. He has been on the boards of directors of the American Planning Association, the Nature Conservancy, Environmental Science Associates and SE Corporation.

Blakely was a Senior Fulbright Fellow (1985-86), and received the 1990 San Francisco Foundation Award for improving community life in the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, he was President of the Pacific Rim Council on Urban Development (1993) and remains on the Board of Directors. He was appointed by President Clinton as Vice Chair of the Presidio Trust to serve a two-year term (1997-1999).

From 1977-84, Blakely was Assistant Vice President of Systemwide Administration for the University of California. In this capacity, he managed the University's faculty and academic personnel and policy system for more than 14,000 University of California academic employees. He has been an advisor to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and to state governments in the United States, as well as government bodies in Korea, Japan, Australia, Sweden, Indonesia, New Zealand and Vietnam.

Blakely is the author of four books and more than 100 scholarly articles. His publications include  Fortress America, with Mary Gail Snyder (Brookings Press, 1997); Separate Societies: Poverty and Inequality in U.S. Cities (Temple University Press, 1992), Planning Local Economic Development: Theory and Practice (Sage, 1989), and Rural Communities in Advanced Industrial Society (Praeger, 1979). His articles include "Room for Whom: Change in the Central Valley" (1990), "Theoretical  Approaches for a Global Community" (1989), and "Shaping the American Dream: Landuse Choices for America's Future" (1993). His work is widely cited and he was co-recipient of the Paul Davidoff Award (1993) and a Guggenheim Fellowship (1994).

Full Bibliography

News on Edward Blakely

March 15, 2005
The Sydney Morning Herald: Developers join voices against city plan delays (pdf)

March 14, 2005
The Sydney Morning Herald: City Overhaul Loses Fizz (pdf)

May 19, 2004
The Australian: Guru's Radical Plan to Remix the Global City (pdf)

April 26, 2004
The Daily Telegraph: Improving on Perfect... (pdf)

April 23, 2004
The Daily Telegraph: $50,000 Penalty on New Homes (pdf)