The Center for Urban Economic Development (CUED) was established at the University of Illinois at Chicago's School of Urban Planning and Policy in 1978. Since that time we have worked with dozens of cities and community groups to improve the economic life of urban neighborhoods, and have published hundreds of reports towards that end.

CUED's mission is to address the economic needs of urban areas, emphasizing the retention and expansion of the economic base and improving conditions for low- and moderate-income communities. The Center pursues its mission by translating its research into practice on a wide range of economic and public policy issues involving access to and the quality of jobs, business strategies and outcomes, and the impact of development on neighborhoods. CUED also provides technical assistance to community-based organizations and public and private sector entities engaged in economic development planning.

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MEMORIAL TO ROB MIER:

Rob Mier, activist and professor of urban planning and public administration at the University of Illinois at Chicago, died in February, 1995, at the age of 52 as a result of exposure during the Vietnam War to the exfoliant Agent Orange. He founded the Center for Urban Economic Development at the University in 1978 to help communities help themselves through technical assistance and research. He served as Chicago's director of development under Mayors Harold Washington and Eugene Sawyer, and was the chief architect of the city's highly regarded 1984 Chicago Works Together development plan, which emphasized jobs, neighborhoods, and the equitable distribution of resources and opportunities to combat racism and poverty.

Mier was a nationally recognized expert on urban economic development and equity planning, and served as a consultant for numerous cities, including Oakland and Los Angeles, California, and Belfast, Northern Ireland. He published several books, the most recent of which was Social Justice and Local Development Policy (Sage Publications 1993). In the years preceding his death, his interests turned to regional antipoverty coalitions and global networking of equity planners.

The Rob Mier Scholarship Fund has been established in his memory. A scholarship will be awarded annually to a urban planning graduate student. Please send your contribution with checks made payable to the University of Illinois Foundation to:

Rob Mier Scholarship Fund
University of Illinois Foundation
c/o Jodi White Jones, Assistant Dean for Advancement
College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, MC350
412 South Peoria Street, Suite 115
Chicago, IL 60607

For more information, please contact Jodi White Jones at 312.413.9127 or jmwhite@uic.edu.