1997 Founders (Casey) Award Honoree

Fred Mayer (shown at right receiving his award from Awards Committee Chair Glenna Brown) is widely acknowledged as an authority on campus planning. (Much of his career has been focused on one institution, where he carries the professional title of University Planner, which is most appropriate.) In addition to University Planner, he is also Assistant Director of Capital Planning at the University of Michigan. He is described as having guided the development, care, and enhancement of one of the finest university campuses in the United States. In some ways, his leadership has impacted virtually every student, faculty, and staff member at that institution during his tenure—and that institution is said to have the largest, extant body of alumnae of any higher education institution in the world!

Fred's educational background includes training in political science, city and regional planning, and architectural studies. Among the major accomplishments he has overseen at the University of Michigan are the development of two new regional, commuter campuses; the construction of a replacement hospital project; the conversion of older facilities for use by new high technology programs; the complete exterior redesign of buildings; and the addition of facilities to a growing main campus while maintaining an attractive and comfortable place for all who study, work, and visit there.

His concern with the detail of projects involves everything from art work and the placement of historical objects that have been saved from buildings which are no longer standing to the type and location of bicycle racks so that the beauty of the space between buildings is maintained. As one nominator said, "What makes Fred's career at the University of Michigan so exemplary is his balancing of campus planning at the macro level with concerns for individuals and spaces at the micro level... . He blends the ideals of architectural theory with the best practices of a pragmatic engineer." In one of the higher compliments that can be given to a planner, it has been said that he has developed and nurtured a "culture of planning" at the University of Michigan.

Fred has focused on the development of campus master plans which have been implemented across all five of the university's campuses as well as bringing those plans to life. His involvement and experience have spanned all aspects of planning and project design and implementation, and he has achieved a level of unparalleled respect among his colleagues at the University of Michigan and many others in higher education with whom he has worked.

He has been called upon to evaluate plans, respond to questions about developing campus plans and projects, and to recommend solutions to problems. He often serves as an informal advisor to smaller colleges in Michigan who request his advice on planning issues. He also has produced six videotapes which document key campus planning issues and projects and serve as educational tools. His generosity in sharing his experience, his skills, and his vision is noteworthy.

There are two things that make Fred's receiving this award even more special. The first is that K.C. Parsons, for whom the award is named, served as Fred's thesis advisor and in that way impacted his career and his contributions to higher education planning. The second is that Fred is a charter member of SCUP and has served the Society in many ways, including seeing through some of its more difficult times. He has been a member of numerous committees; he was Editor for publications based on selected papers from SCUP's first two conferences' for several years in the 1980s he was Editor of SCUP's journal, Planning for Higher Education; he has served as a presenter at regional conferences; and he chaired SCUP's successful national conference last year in Washington, DC. As more than one nominator noted, Fred was their introduction to SCUP. His active involvement in the Society is just one more way in which he has contributed to this field.

The Society for College and University Planning is pleased to acknowledge the many significant and valued contributions of Frederick W. Mayer, of the University of Michigan, to higher education planning by naming him as the recipient of it's 1997 Casey Award.