Alumni

About 40 percent of MUP graduates work in the public planning sector and 20 percent in the private planning sector. Examples of public agencies hiring DURP graduates include the City of Houston, the United States Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, the New York City Planning Department, the World Bank, and the U.S. Department of the Interior. Private planning firms include large companies such as HNTB and URS Corporation, as well as smaller firms such as Camiros Ltd. and Teska Associates. Roughly another 40 percent of our graduates work in the fields of law, non-profit management, and academia in universities in the U.S. and abroad, including India, Korea, and Brazil, or in positions of management, finance, media, marketing, and administration with companies such as Accenture and Bank One.

The historically high percentage of our alumni pursuing careers in planning and closely related fields reflects the strength of our program, as well as the support network provided by the faculty, staff, alumni, and friends of the department in preparing students to become effective professionals. The diversity of employment held by our alumni also underscores the relevance of planning skills and knowledge to a wide variety of disciplines and fields.

Examples of Careers in Planning

Graduates of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning pursue a variety of careers, both in the public and private sectors. Below are selected positions held by DURP alumni in recent years.

Public

Principal Planner, Palm Beach County

Planner, Tri-County Regional Planning Commission

Long Range Planning Manager, Ogden City, UT

Principal Planner, City of Houston

Planning and Policy Analyst, Wisconsin Department of Transportation

Economic Development Specialist, City of Southlake, TX

Planner, Colorado Springs Planning Division

Private

Consultant, The Architects Collaborative

Project Engineer, Lea and Elliott

Consultant, HOK Consulting

Transportation Planner, BRW

President, Integrated Real Estate Services

Manager, Economic Development, Busse Consulting

Planner, URS Corporation

Other

Account Executive, Jordan Tamraz Caruso Advertising

Product Manager, Arrow Electronics

General Assignment Reporter, WMC-TV Action News 5, Memphis, TN

Attorney, Gallagher and Kennedy

Human Resources Associate, Unilever Corporation

Marketing Manager, Landplan Engineering

Organizing Director, Citizen Action

A Few of Our Notable Alumni

• Thompson Dyke (BS, 1956), Founder and Chairman, Thompson Dyke & Associates (Chicago)
• Dean Macris (MUP, 1958), Planning Director, City of San Francisco
• Robert (Bob) Teska (MUP, 1961), Chairman of the Board and Principal, Teska Associates, Inc.
• Gary Hack (MUP, 1967), Dean of School of Design, University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)
• Leslie (Les) Pollock (MUP, 1968), Principal Consultant, Camiros, Ltd (Chiago)
• Carl V. Patton (MUP, 1969), President, Georgia State University (Atlanta)
• Rafael Cestero (MUP, 1993), Senior Vice President for Field Operations and Program Support, Enterprise Community Partners, Inc (New York)
• Kirk Goodrich (MUP, 1993), Vice President, Tax Credit Syndication, Enterprise Community Investment, Inc. (Northeast/New York Region)
• Juan Salgado (MUP, 1993), Executive Director, Institute for Latino Progress / Instituto del Progreso Latino, (Chicago)
• Michelle Whetten (MUP, 1994), Local Office Director Gulf Coast, Enterprise Community Partners (New Orleans)
• Angie (Morgan) Marks (MUP, 1996), Director, Chicago Department of Housing