The Bloustein School is pleased to announce the establishment of the Walter Cope Evans Endowed Fellowship in Planning and Public Policy. This annual fellowship program will support a graduate student in the Bloustein School’s Masters in City and Regional Planning program who has demonstrated a significant personal commitment and/or outstanding academic potential in the fields of planning or public policy. The fellowship will award approximately $10,000 annually.
Walter C. Evans, AICP (Urban Planning, MCRP; ’74), was a community planning consultant, serving private and public sector clients in southeast Pennsylvania for over 22 years (1985–2007). His expertise included the preparation of comprehensive plans, special planning studies, zoning ordinances, subdivision and land development ordinances, fiscal impact analyses, and property analyses. Major parts of his work involved official reviews of subdivision and land development plans and the provision of expert planning testimony before municipal governing bodies, zoning hearing boards, and appellate courts. He provided planning services to over 20 municipalities and more than 120 private sector clients. Evans served as the Township Planner for Lower Moreland, Northampton and Plymouth Townships (Pennsylvania).
Prior to the establishment of his firm, Walter C. Evans & Associates, Inc., he served as the Director of Planning for Whitemarsh Township, Pa. (1977–1985) and was a community planner with the Bucks County (Pa.) Planning Commission (1974–1977). Evans received his A.B. from the University of Pennsylvania (1970) and a Masters in City and Regional Planning from Rutgers University (1974).
He served as president of the former Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Planning Association, and has continued his affiliations as a charter member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, a charter member of the American Planning Association, and a member of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Planning Association.
Evans retired from the planning profession in 2007 to serve as the executive trustee of a family foundation and as a general partner of an investment partnership. He has also continued to serve on the boards of a number of charitable organizations in the Philadelphia area.
He credits the school with significantly contributing to his successful 33-year career as a community planning consultant and as a leader in the professional field. Through this gift, Evans hopes to convey his appreciation for the opportunities afforded him by the University as a student, and offer outstanding student candidates the opportunity to undertake and pursue their profession with minimal personal debt.
He is married to Jane Fleming Evans. They have three children (Alison, Megan, and Andrew) and six active grandchildren.