The Blakely award is in honor of Edward Blakely, who has offered extraordinary service as both scholar and practitioner, following examples from his family, including in particular his father Edward Blakely, his mother Josephine Carter Blakely, and all of his uncles and aunts and cousins who lived and worked for social justice in communities of color, particularly during the years of legally-enforced racial segregation.

About Edward Blakely

Professor Edward Blakely is Honorary Professor of Urban Policy at the US Studies Centre, University of Sydney, Australia, and previously served for two years as Executive Director of the Office of Recovery and Development Administration for New Orleans following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

One of the world's leading scholars and practitioners of urban policy, he has been Dean of the School of Urban Planning and Development at the University of Southern California and Dean of the Robert J Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy, New School University in New York City. He has also held professorial appointments at the University of California Berkeley, the University of Southern California, and the University of Sydney.

Edward Blakely is the author of five books and more than 100 scholarly articles as well as many essays and opinion pieces. His books include: Separate Societies: Poverty and Inequality in US Cities; My Storm: Managing the Recovery of New Orleans in the Wake of Katrina; Fortress America; Planning Local Economic Development: Theory and Practice; and Rural Communities in Advanced Industrial Society. His extensive record of public service includes advising the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, state and federal governments in Australia and the United States, as well as governments in Korea, Japan, Sweden, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Vietnam. A Fulbright Scholar, Professor Blakely earned his BA at the University of California Riverside, his MA at University of California Berkeley, and a PhD at UCLA.

About the Award

This award, to be presented at the annual POCIG business meeting, may go to planning or related academics or to professionals who have supported the cause of social justice for communities of color in their work. Such awardees will not be limited to residents of the U.S. or to faculty of ACSP member schools. The Planners of Color Interest Group will appoint a selection committee in the spring of 2012 for the first cycle of selection.