2010 Charles E. Downe Memorial Award

Charles E. Downe, a past President of the Massachusetts Federation of Planning Boards, a member of the Needham Board of Appeals, a planning director, teacher and friend of countless others, exemplified the best attributes of the citizen, teacher and professional planner. He was a planner who listened to the public, mentored young planners, demonstrated patience and always acted with the utmost integrity. The Charles E. Downe Memorial Fund recognizes persons who exemplify all of these traits for which Charles Downe is remembered. The 2010 award is hereby presented to…

Howard H. Foster, Jr.

Dr. Foster has devoted his life to teaching and mentoring at least two generations of planners, many hundreds of them practicing far and wide. His education is nonpareil – a B.A. from Harvard, an MCP from Yale, and a Ph.D. from Cornell, where he was elected to Phi Kappa Phi. For forty years beginning in 1963 until his retirement in 2003 he served on the graduate faculty of the University of Rhode Island where he taught professional courses in the MCP program, undertook research, and was involved in outreach including Cooperative Extension. Dr. Foster was the first faculty member in the new Graduate Curriculum in Community Planning and Area Development. He was the Director of the Program and the Director and Department Chair of the University of Rhode Island Department of Community Planning and Landscape Architecture for a number of terms. Dr. Foster was promoted to tenured Associate Professor in 1972 and became Emeritus Associate Professor in 2003. In addition to his teaching, Dr. Foster has had a research affiliation with the Agricultural Experiment Station since 1991. He has also served the profession as Acting Director of the Rhode Island Cooperative Extension Service. His research interests include local economic development, where he led the establishment of the Washington County Planning Council. He was regularly involved in planning studio courses, including those with Charlie Downe during the 1960’s, and taught the courses in planning theory and history of planning for many years. Dr. Foster was a member of the American Planning Association, Rhode Island Chapter, served as the Chapter’s Historian, and was honored by the Chapter with the President's Distinguished Service Award. He was also a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, and the American Society for American City and Regional Planning History.

Dwight H. Merriam, FAICP Robert P. Mitchell, FAICP Carol J. Thomas, FAICP

(from left) Trustees of the Charles E. Downe Trust, Carol Thomas, FAICP,

and Robert Mitchell, FAICP, look on as Professor Howard H. Foster, Jr.

accepts the 2010 Charles E. Downe Trustees Distinguished Service Award