Rob Mier: A Lasting Legacy

Rob Mier already had a long track record of teaching, leadership and mentoring by the time he took on his first role as an urban planning professor. The memorial award that's carried his name since his death in 1995 honors those traits, and the boundaries he pushed throughout his career as a teacher and activist.

"Rob was always there for us as young adults trying to make our way, but we couldn't have gotten there without the help of many others. In my case, especially, I benefited from scholarship support that made it possible for me to attend both college and law school," says Mier's younger sister, Nell Jessup Newton, dean and law professor at Notre Dame Law School. "He would be proud this award is helping students, who may be in situations like ours was, trying to make their own ways."

Poor and parentless, Mier was the primary caregiver to Newton and their younger sibling, doing everything for them as they grew up. Along the way, he defied social norms by befriending those of all backgrounds and classes in a city that was strictly segregated. Both roles were indications of the impact he'd have at UIC and in the city of Chicago.

Rob Mier

Mier founded the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs' Center for Urban and Economic Development in 1978, which to this day works with community groups to improve the economic states of their urban neighborhoods. He also created Chicago Works Together, the city's 1984 economic development plan, working as Mayor Harold Washington's commissioner of economic development. As with everything he did, Mier infused both endeavors with a steadfast focus on social justice, equality and diversity.

"Rob was a great listener who inspired people to push boundaries and reconsider views," says Joan Fitgerald, Mier's widow and professor and director of the Law, Policy and Society Program at Northeastern University. "This made him an amazing mentor and helped him fulfill his personal desire to make an impact in a major city."

Mier died in 1995 from exposure to Agent Orange during his service in the Vietnam War. Newton, along with Mier's friends and family, including his widow, Joan Fitzgerald, joined forces in creating the Rob Mier Memorial Award, which is given annually to a full-time urban planning and policy student. The award recognizes Mier's activism as an urban planning professor at UIC and Chicago's director of development under Mayors Harold Washington and Eugene Sawyer.