Bloustein School Named Lecture Series

The Ruth Ellen Steinman Bloustein and Edward J. Bloustein Memorial Lecture

The Ruth Ellen Steinman Bloustein and Edward J. Bloustein Memorial Lecture was established to honor the memory of these two extraordinary individuals. For nearly nineteen years, the Blousteins dedicated their enormous energies to Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. The fund was established in 1988 after Ruth Ellen died following a long and heroic battle with illness. Sadly, there was cause to broaden the purpose of the fund a year later when Edward Bloustein, Rutgers’ beloved president, died suddenly in December of 1989.

The endowment supports an annual lecture series, that may include one to three lectures per academic year, that is intended to celebrate the values and interests Ruth Ellen and Ed cherished and cultivated throughout their lives.

The Ruth Ellen Steinman Bloustein and Edward J. Bloustein Memorial Lecture series focuses on three main themes. One area of exploration is the study and preservation of animal species and the natural environment. A second theme celebrates love, happiness, and laughter as tools of clinical medicine. The third topic seeks to explore and promote humane values, which Ed Bloustein believed were woven in the fabric of Judaic tradition and passed down from generation to generation.

Past Speakers
  • Spring 1998 (inaugural) – Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., director of the African-American studies department, Harvard University
  • Spring 1999 – W. Michael Blumenthal, president and CEO, Berlin Jewish Museum
  • Spring 2000 –  Konstanty Gebert, Polish journalist and activist
  • Fall 2000 – Ernestine Schlant Bradley, professor of German and Comparative Literature, Montclair State University; author
  • Spring 2001 – Richard J. Jackson, M.D., director, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • 2002 – David B. Ruderman, Joseph Meyerhoff Professor of Modern Jewish History and director of the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
  • Spring 2003 – Steven J. Zipperstein, Daniel E. Koshland Professor in Jewish Culture and History, Stanford University
  • Winter 2003 – Peter Eisenman, architect; Jeffrey Kipnis, curator of architecture and design, Wexner Center for the Arts and professor, The Ohio State University; Herbert Muschamp, New York Times architecture critic
  • 2004 – James E. Young, author, and juror for the World Trade Center Site Memorial competition
  • 2005 – Moshe Halbertal, Distinguished Israeli scholar
  • 2006 – James Howard Kunstler, urban planning advocate, journalist, novelist
  • 2008 – Dr. Arie Nesher, Architect and Professional Director of the Porter School of Environmental Studies at Tel Aviv University
  • Spring 2010 – Rachelle Alterman, David Azrieli Chair in Architecture/Town Planning, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa
  • Fall 2010 – Carol Graham, College Park Professor, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland; Senior Fellow in Economic Studies and Co-Director of the Center on Social and Economic Dynamics, The Brookings Institution
  • 2011 – Paul Goldberger, Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic and writer for The New Yorker
  • 2011 – Sigalit Landau, Israeli sculptor, video, and installation artist
  • 2012 – Kenneth T. Jackson, Jacques Barzun Professor of History, Columbia University
  • 2014 – Mark Gregory Robson, Dean of Agricultural and Urban Programs and Professor of Plant Biology and Pathology,School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers University
  • 2014 – Richard I. Cohen, Paulette and Claude Kelman Chair in French Jewry Studies and the head of the Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
  • 2015 – Dr. Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel laureate in economics, University Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs
  • 2016 – James W. Hughes, Distinguished Professor and Dean, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning an Public Policy
  • 2016 – Carlos Galllinar, Executive Director for Planning and Innovative School Construction at the El Paso Independent School District in El Paso, Texas
  • 2017 – Shahar Sadeh, visiting scholar at New York University and an adjunct professor at Columbia University
  • 2018 – Thomas A. Burke, PhD, MPH, Jacob I. and Irene B. Fabrikant Professor and Chair in Health Risk and Society at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management
  • 2018 – (panel on women’s leadership and entrepreneurship)—Christiana R. Foglio, MCRP ’86 (GSNB), DC ‘84, President, Community Investment Strategies, Inc.; Courtenay D. Mercer, MCRP ’02, Principal, Mercer Planning Associates; Jessica Schellack, MCRP ’11, Co-founder, OQ Coffee Co.
  • 2019 – Congressman Rush D. Holt CEO, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS); executive publisher, Science; U.S. Representative, New Jersey’s 12th congressional district (1999-2015)
  • 2020 – Paul Butler, Albert Brick Professor in Law, Georgetown Law
    (a second lecture with Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, Tree of Life Synagogue, Pittsburgh and Esther Sperber, AIA, ST Architects in New York, co-sponsored with the Bildner Center was canceled in April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic)
  • 2021 – Thomas Craemer, Associate Professor of Public Policy, University of Connecticut
  • 2022 – Crystal D. Charley-Sibley, MBA, Reproductive justice and civil rights activist; Founder, Melanin and Motherhood (also the Bloustein School Diversity and Inclusion Speaker’s Forum)
  • 2022 – ”Public Service and Bloustein: Past, Present and Future” panel with James W. Hughes, University Professor, and Dean Emeritus; Kathe Newman, Professor and Director, Voorhees Center for Civic Engagement; Will Jones, Executive Director, Rutgers Career Exploration and Success; and Lucas Torres, EJB ‘22 (Public Health) and inaugural cohort of the Rutgers Summer Service Initiative
  • 2023 “Antisemitism in the Heartland: Hubert Humphrey and the Fight for Civil Rights,” by Samuel Freedman, author and journalist;  professor, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism

The Robert A. Catlin Memorial Lecture

The Robert A. Catlin Memorial Lecture honors the legacy of Robert A. Catlin, Bloustein School professor, who died in July 2004. Catlin began his career as a staff planner for governmental agencies and community organizations in several cities, including Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and New York. He also served as dean of the College of Social Science at Florida Atlantic University, dean of the Camden College of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers, and provost and vice president for academic affairs at California State University, Bakersfield. He was inducted as an AICP Fellow in 2001. At the Bloustein School, he specialized in urban revitalization and the impact of race in public policy decision-making.

Themes: urban revitalilzation, planning, race issues in public policy decision making.

Past Speakers
  • 2005 – Hon. Joseph Vas, Mayor, City of Perth Amboy, NJ
  • 2006 – Robert Cotter, City Planner, City of Jersey City, NJ
  • 2007 – Isabel Hill, Producer/Director
  • 2009 – Herbert J. Gans, Professor of Sociology, Columbia University
  • 2010 – Robert Curvin, Distinguished Senior Policy Fellow, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
  • 2011 – Thomas J. Sugrue, David Boies Professor of History and Sociology, University of Pennsylvania
  • 2012 – Susan Fainstein, Professor of Urban Planning, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University and Professor Emerita, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
  • 2013 – Meredeth Turshen, Professor, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
  • 2014 – Dr. Anthony Townsend RC ’96 (Urban Studies), research director for the Technology Horizons Program at the Institute for the Future and senior research fellow at New York University’s Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management
  • 2015 – Jane Golden, Executive Director of the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program
  • 2016 – Rolf Pendall, Director of the Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center, Urban Institute
  • 2017 – (panel) Nicky Sheats, Esq., Director of the Center for the Urban Environment at the John S. Watson Institute for Public Policy, Thomas Edison State University;  Dr. Ana Baptista Ph.D. ’08 (EJB), Assistant Professor of Professional Practice in Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management and Associate Director at the Tishman Environment & Design Center, The New School; Cynthia Mellon, Co-chair of the City of Newark Environmental Commission and Coordinator of the Newark Environmental Resource Inventory
  • 2018 – Brian D. Smedley, co-founder, and Executive Director of the National Collaborative for Health Equity
  • 2019Richard Rothstein, Research Associate, Economic Policy Institute, Fellow, Thurgood Marshall Institute of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and Senior Fellow, Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society
  • 2020Planned lecture by Thomas A. Burke, Ph.D., MPH Jacob I. and Irene B. Fabrikant Professor and Chair in Health Risk and Society at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, was canceled in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic
  • 2021—Jonathan Holloway, President, Rutgers University
  • 2022—”What Do You Value: Changemaking in an Ever Changing World” by Brandon McKoy MCRP ‘13, Vice President for State Partnerships Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Gov. James J. Florio Distinguished Visiting Scholar in Public Policy Lecture

In partnership with the offices of Florio, Perrucci, Steinhardt, & Fader LLC, in 2015 the Bloustein School recognized Gov. Florio’s public service career through the endowment of a high-level visiting scholar. The annual Governor James J. Florio Distinguished Visiting Scholar of Public Policy will be a former senior government official or policy practitioner, focusing on an issue that was central to his legislative and gubernatorial career. The scholar will meet and interact with Bloustein School graduate and undergraduate students and faculty and will also present a featured public lecture at the school.

Themes: public service, environment, clean water, mass transit, education funding, welfare reform, health care cost reduction, assault weapons ban

Past Speakers
  • 2015-16 – Sen. Bill Bradley, U.S. Senate 1979-97; Managing Director, Allen & Company LLC
  • 2016-17 – Governor Edward G. Rendell, Former Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (2003-11), Former Mayor of Philadelphia (1992-2000)
  • 2017-18Richard J. Jackson, Professor Emeritus, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health; Pediatrician; former State Health Officer, California Health Department; former Director, Center for Disease Control National Center for Environmental Health
  • 2018-19 – Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and Navy combat veteran and retired NASA astronaut Captain Mark Kelly
  • 2019-20New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy
  • 2021-22 – Senator Bob Menendez, (D-NJ), Chair, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
  • 2022-23Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06)  

The Stuart Meck Memorial Lecture in Land Use Law and Affordable Housing

The Stuart Meck Distinguished Speaker Series on Land Use Law and Affordable Housing was endowed by the late Stuart Meck, an Associate Research Professor and director of the Center for Planning Practice at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, and established by his family in 2018.

Stuart Meck was a renowned specialist in land use controls and reform with 45 years of experience in planning, research and municipal administration. He is considered a pioneer of smart growth with its emphasis on compact development, natural resource protection and affordable housing. Two major works remain in publication, “Growing Smart Legislative Guidebook: Model Statutes for Planning and Management of Change” and, “Ohio Planning and Zoning Law”, co-authored with Kenneth Pearlman. From 1989 to 1991, Stuart served as the president of the American Planning Association. Stuart consulted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Fannie Mae Foundation, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and various local, state and international jurisdictions. Stuart’s writing demonstrated the ability to take complicated legal concepts and translate them into language that non-lawyers could understand. He was an outstanding teacher owing to this same ability and willingness to sit with students to explain the intricacies of planning issues to them.

The Stuart Meck Memorial lecture selects speakers who rank among contemporary practitioners of planning and policy development from within or outside of New Jersey. This series further strives represent the diversity of opinions and positions currently under public and academic debate.

Past Speakers
  • 2018-19 – Rachel Haot, Executive Director of the Transit Innovation Partnership
  • 2019-20Robin Leichenko, Professor and Chair, Department of Geography, Rutgers University
  • 2020-21 – ‘We shall seek social justice’: Moving from aspiration to implementation in Portland’s urban planning” by Lisa K. Bates, PhD, Associate Professor, Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning, Portland State University
  • 2021-22 – ”Affordable Housing: National, State and Local Perspectives” panel with James C. Williams IV, Director of Racial Justice Policy, Fair Share Housing Center; Eric Seymour, Assistant Professor, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University; and Beth McManus, MCRP ‘10, Principal at Kyle + McManus Associates. Moderated by David Listokin, Distinguished Professor and Co-Director, Center for Urban Policy Research, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University
  • 2022-23 – ”Land and Power: A History of Commodification” by Adriana Abizadeh ’12, Executive Director, Kensington Corridor Trust (KCT), Philadelphia and Senior Policy Fellow, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
  • 2023-24 – ”Parking Fight!” by Henry Grabar, Journalist and Loeb Fellow, Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Other Lectures

Diversity and Inclusion Speaker’s Forum

The Bloustein School’s Diversity and Inclusion Speaker’s Forum began in 2022 to celebrate the work and experiences of a scholar, artist, or professional whose achievements exemplify and inspire diversity and excellence. The speaker’s forum serves as the cornerstone of the Bloustein School’s commitment to building awareness of, and fostering a positive climate for, increased diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging through discussion and the sharing of ideas.

Past Speakers
  • 2022 – ”A Millennial’s Activism: Breaking Intergenerational Barriers While Dismantling Systemic Racism in New Jersey” by Crystal D. Charley-Sibley, MBA, Reproductive justice and civil rights activist; Founder, Melanin and Motherhood
  • 2023 – ”Black Faces in High Places: A Roadmap for Success” by Dr. Jeffrey A. Robinson, BA Urban Studies ’95, BS Eng ’95, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor, Rutgers University–Newark Prudential Chair in Business and Professor of Management and Global Business, Rutgers Business School

The Isadore Candeub Memorial Lecture in Planning

The Isadore Candeub Memorial Lecture in Planning was established in 1987 by his family, professional colleagues, and friends, and was presented annually as a tribute to Isadore Candeub in recognition of his many achievements in, and contributions to, the field of planning. The series was organized by the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. In 2018, the lecture series became the Isadore Candeub Endowed Graduate Fellowship in Planning, which provides an annual award of $2,500 to a full-time graduate student based on academic merit and financial need and with preference for a student(s) in the design and development/redevelopment concentration.

Isadore Candeub, MIT ’48, was a leader in the field of urban planning and redevelopment from 1953, when he founded the firm later known as Candeub, Fleissig & Associates, to 1986, the year of his passing. As president of CF&A, he directed the preparation of planning studies for towns and cities across the nation and internationally. Headquartered originally in Newark, NJ, the company expanded and at one time was the largest organization in redevelopment planning in this country. It was noted for its high standards and excellence in professional staff, many of whom were graduates of the Rutgers planning program.

The annual Isadore Candeub Memorial Lecture was established in memory of Isadore Candeub in tribute to his long and successful career as a planning consultant and to his extraordinary dedication to planning in towns, cities, and regions across America. Before his passing in 1986, he was chairman of the executive committee of Candeub, Fleissig & Associates, consultants in community development and environmental planning. Mr. Candeub, with Morris B. Fleissig, a lawyer, founded the firm in Newark in 1953. Earlier he had spent 20 months in the Federal Government as chief planner for the Northeastern region of the Housing and Home Finance Agency, a precursor of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He was a 1943 graduate of the City College of New York; did graduate work at Columbia University and received a master’s degree in 1948 from the School of Architecture and City Planning of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Past Speakers
  • Henry Cisneros, former Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
  • 1995—Martha Farnsworth Riche, former Director, U.S. Census Bureau
  • Former Senator Bill Bradley
  • 1996 — Leon Eplan, planning director, Atlanta Olympics
  • Norman Krumholz, Professor of Urban Planning, Cleveland State University; former President, American Planning Association
  • George Sternlieb, former University Professor at Rutgers University; founder of CUPR
  • Edward Blakely, Dean, School of Urban Planning, University of Southern California
  • Louis Gambaccini, former New Jersey Transportation Commissioner
  • James Gilbert, former Chair, New Jersey State Planning Commission
  • Leon Aplan, former Commissioner, Planning and Development, City of Atlanta
  • James Florio, former Governor, State of New Jersey
  • Jane Kenny, former Commissioner, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs
  • 1999 – Peter Eisenman, internationally renowned architect and author
  • 2000 = Robert Burchell, Professor, Urban Planning, Bloustein School; Co-director of CUPR
  • Fall 2001 – John Norquist, Mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
  • Fall 2003 – David Rusk, former Mayor of Albuquerque, New Mexico
  • Randall Arendt, President, Greener Prospects
  • 2004 – Robert Lang, founding Director, Metropolitan Institute, Virginia Tech University
  • Jerold Kayden, Harvard University Graduate School of Design
  • 2006-07 – Tony Nelessen, architect and Associate Professor, Rutgers University
  • Max Page, author and Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts
  • Daniel Lerch, program manager, The Post-Carbon Institute
  • 2009 – June Williamson, urban designer and registered architect; Associate Professor of Architecture, City College of New York
  • Fall 2010 – Harris Steinberg, Executive Director, PennPraxis; Adjunct Assistant Professor of City and Regional Planning, University of Pennsylvania
  • Fall 2011 – Dwight Merriam, Partner, Robinson & Cole, Attorneys at Law
  • Spring 2013 – Ralph Buehler, Assistant Professor of Urban Affairs and Planning; Faculty Fellow, Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech
  • Fall 2013 – Kevin D. Walsh, Esq., Associate Director, Fair Share Housing Center, Cherry Hill, New Jersey
  • Fall 2013 – Douglas S. Massey, Henry G. Bryant Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
  • Fall 2014 – Frank Fish, FAICP, principal with BFJ Planning
  • Fall 2015 – Tony Calcado, Vice President of Facilities and Capital Planning, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
  • Fall 2017 – (panel discussion on the history and evolution of Metuchen, NJ) Anton Nelessen, professor, Bloustein School and former Town Planner, Borough of Metuchen; James Constantine, Principal, Looney Ricks Kiss and Town Planner, Borough of Metuchen; Len Roseman, Chair, Metuchen Borough Parking Authority; James B. Graziano, Partner, Graziano, Piasecki, Whitelaw & Simko and former Attorney, Metuchen Borough Parking Authority; John Wiley, former Mayor of Metuchen; Jay Muldoon, former Metuchen Councilman and Acting Borough Administrator; Stephen A. Santola, Woodmont Properties; Joel Schwartz, Landmark Companies LLC; and Eric Berger, US Real Estate.