February 24, 2009

The Urban Studies and Planning program is proud to announce the 2009 Carl M. Ruskin Lecture: speaker Robert C. Embry on Wednesday, March 25, 2009. Titled “The Challenge of Urban Public Education,” the presentation will begin at 8:00 p.m. at the University of Maryland School of Social Work auditorium, located at 525 West Redwood Street in Baltimore.

Embry will highlight the numerous challenges facing public education in large American cities and, using Baltimore as a case study, will suggest how these challenges can be addressed. The talk is free and open to the public.

Robert C. Embry is president of The Abell Foundation, a position he has held since 1987. A native of Baltimore, he is a graduate of Williams College and Harvard Law School. He was elected to the Baltimore City Council in 1967-8, and served on the Baltimore City Planning Commission for two years. The Junior Association of Commerce honored him as Baltimore Young Man of the Year in both 1968 and 1969.

Embry was Commissioner of the City's Department of Housing and Community Development from 1968 to 1977. In 1979 he was named by Time Magazine as one of 50 young national leaders. Embry served as Executive Director of the President's Task Force on Urban Policy from 1977 to 1981. He was president of the Maryland State Board of Education from 1990 to 1995.

This annual lecture series honors Carl M. Ruskin, an alumnus of the Urban Studies and Planning Program who, at the time of his untimely death in 1987, was Chief of Planning and Urban Design in the Baltimore Department of Housing and Community Development. The intent of the endowed annual lecture series is to invite distinguished speakers to discuss topics of interest to specific Baltimore neighborhoods and to the city as a whole.

Please contact Program Director Jim Cohen with any questions.

Click here for directions to the University of Maryland School of Social Work.

The School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at the University of Maryland is home to four academic disciplines: architecture, urban planning, historic preservation and real estate development. Committed to educating its students and community about the importance of sustainability and smart growth, the School practices an interdisciplinary approach to education, research, creative work, and community and professional service. For more information, please e-mail us or call 301.405.8000.

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