Visiting Faculty
Robert M. Beckley
Charles Moore Visiting Professor Fall 2008
Robert M. Beckley is Dean and Professor Emeritus of the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Bob retired from teaching and academic administration in June 2002 to devote full time to consulting in architecture, urban design and planning and his own writing and photography projects.
Beckley was born in Cleveland, Ohio and has a Bachelors Degree in Architecture from the University of Cincinnati and a Masters Degree in Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Prior to moving to Michigan in 1987 to take the position of Dean, he taught and served as Chair and Acting Dean in the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee, a program he helped establish in 1969. Beckley’s professional projects in Milwaukee included assisting in the creation of two urban design centers, one in the African American community and one in the Latino community. He also worked on projects with the City of Milwaukee Economic Development Department investigating infill housing options and the Milwaukee Redevelopment Corporation (MRC) on downtown development.
In 1980 he founded the firm Beckley/Myers Architects with colleague Sherrill Myers. Under Beckley’s direction the firm completed urban design plans for the Milwaukee RiverWalk, the Milwaukee Theater District and the Bellevue Downtown Park in Bellevue Washington as well as numerous architectural commissions. Beckley left the firm in 1992 to devote full time to academic administration and teaching.
Since stepping down as Dean in 1997, after ten years of service, Beckley resumed his professional activity. He has participated in designs for a downtown park in Lake Oswego, OR and the development of urban design guidelines for the State Street Redevelopment Project in Ann Arbor, MI. He has served as planning consultant to the Genesee County Treasurer’s Office helping to establish the Genesee County Land Bank and the Genesee Institute, the planning and research arm of the Land Bank. He is currently working with Taktix Solutions, a real estate consulting firm, on planning and urban design projects in Battle Creek and Kalamazoo, MI.
Beckley was made a fellow of the Urban Design Institute in 1990 and the American Institute of Architects in 1985. He has worked on research grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Department of Transportation. He also served as Urban Research Scientist while at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He has received recognition and awards for design, research and service from the NEA, Progressive Architecture Magazine, the American Institute of Architects in Wisconsin and Michigan, the City of Milwaukee and the Urban Land Institute.
Selected Public Projects:
- State Street Development Project Urban Design Guidelines: Ann Arbor, MI 2000, Const. 2002–03
- Millennium Plaza Park: Lake Oswego, OR., Phase I 2000, Phase II 2001.
- Bellevue Downtown Park: Bellevue, WA., Competition Entry 1984, Phase I 1987, Phase II 1990
- City of Milwaukee RiverWalk: Milwaukee, WI., Design Guidelines 1984, Phase I Const. 1986.
- Milwaukee Theater District: Milwaukee, WI., Urban Design Guidelines Phase I 1980–82, Phase II 1982–84, Theaters occupied 1987
