KNIGHT PROGRAM IN COMMUNITY BUILDING
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
ANNOUNCES 2004-05 FELLOWS

October 18, 2004 -- Thirteen distinguished mid-career professionals from a variety of disciplines have been awarded fellowships for 2004-05 from the Knight Program in Community Building, based at the University of Miami School of Architecture.

The fellowships are awarded annually to individuals with an active interest in the interdisciplinary process of community building. Throughout the year, fellows pursue independent research projects and take part in intensive community-building workshops, seminars, and a charrette. Fields from which fellows are selected include economic and community development, housing, transportation, architecture, planning, real estate, journalism, public policy, and human services.

Established in 2001, the Knight Program addresses today’s urgent issues associated with community building including the complex, interrelated problems of suburban sprawl and inner-city disinvestment. The program’s goal is to advance the knowledge and practice of New Urbanism and Smart Growth across disciplines through an innovative series of initiatives, including fellowships, scholarships, conferences, and publications. The Knight Program builds on the strengths of the School of Architecture as an international educational leader in the planning and design of livable communities. It is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which promotes excellence in journalism worldwide and invests in the vitality of 26 U.S. communities. The Knight Program extends the foundation’s commitment to community service with its fellowship program. For more information about the Knight Program, please visit www.arc.miami.edu/knight.

Each of this year’s fellows brings special talents, skills, and experience to bear on the issues associated with place making, development and growth. Through their proposed case studies, research topics, and participation in the Knight Program events, the fellows will broaden their knowledge of community building approaches and practices and deepen their understanding of how to apply community building and place making techniques to places throughout the United States.

The fellows will assemble at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida on November 5-8 for their first round of activities. They will attend a series of events including lectures by prominent community building practitioners and theorists. During the year, fellows will take part in intensive colloquiums, national events including the annual Partners for Smart Growth conference and Congress for the New Urbanism, receive training and certification from the National Charrette Institute, and organize and conduct a charrette in one of the 26 Knight communities in conjunction with University of Miami's School of Architecture.

The 2004-05 Knight Fellows in Community Building are:

Tom Cotruvo
Executive Director, Duluth Economic Development Authority, City of Duluth, Duluth, Minnesota
Expertise: financing economic development projects, business retention and
recruitment, city planning, architecture

James (Jim) R. Epstein
Co-founder and CEO, EFO Capital Management, Inc., Washington, D.C.
Expertise: development of mixed-use master planned communities

Lisa B. Hogan
Attorney, Lisa B. Hogan, P. A., Miami, Florida
Expertise: business law, public/private partnerships, foundation and nonprofit management

Michelle Jones
Community Assistance Coordinator, Historic Preservation Division, Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Starkville, Mississippi
Expertise: historic preservation: local preservation planning, education coordinator, events coordinator, technical assistance

Yon Lambert
Assistant Director, Palmetto Conservation Foundation, Spartanburg, South Carolina
Expertise: planning and public policy

Jeremy Chi-Ming Liu
Director of Community Programs, Asian Community Development Corporation, Boston, Massachusetts
Expertise: community development, urban and environmental planning, community
organizing, participatory design, art/technology/culture and community
development

Andrew Miller
Project Manager, Forest City Ratner Companies, Brooklyn, New York
Expertise: real estate development, market research

Jessica Cogan Millman
Deputy Director, Smart Growth Leadership Institute, Washington, DC
Expertise: Smart Growth, land use and environmental planning, reducing plan and project implementation barriers

Daniel Parolek
Founding Principal, Opticos Design, Berkeley, California
Expertise: neighborhood design (infill and greenfield), building type design, traditional and classical building design, creation of form-based codes

Verónica Rosales, AICP
Chief Urban Planner, Planning, Research and Development Department, City of El Paso, Texas
Expertise: urban planning, border issues, neighborhood revitalization, transportation planning 

Will Selman
Town Planner, Lancaster County Planning Commission and
Principal, Town Planning Design Associates, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Expertise: New Urbanist planning

Ken Stapleton
Director, University Park Alliance, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio
Expertise: revitalization of urban neighborhoods & downtowns; design & implementation of innovative urban security programs; university-community partnerships

Kendra Wills
Land Use Agent, Michigan State University Extension - Kent County, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Expertise: adult and youth land use education, connecting urban and rural land use issues, farmland and open space preservation, county purchase of development rights programs, Smart Growth

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