2009 – Peter Skosey, MUPP ’93
Since 2004, the CUPPA Alumni Association Board of Directors has presented the Alumni Appreciation Award recognizing individuals or groups for their dedication to the fields of urban planning and public administration and their contributions to the development of the college's students and alumni. The recipient of this year’s award is Peter Skosey MUPP ’93, vice president of the Metropolitan Planning Council.
Skosey was one of the founders of the CUPPA alumni association in the late 1990s and served as its president for six years. He started at the Metropolitan Planning Council as urban development director in 1996, joining the leadership team to restructure the institution from its foundation of excellent research into a strong advocate for policy change. In 1999, he was promoted to vice president of external relations. Mr. Skosey has worked on a variety of policy initiatives ranging from a 1999 rewrite of Illinois' Tax Increment Financing Act to the massive overhaul of Chicago's zoning ordinance. Mr. Skosey also coordinates legislative outreach for MPC.
Prior to joining MPC, Mr. Skosey worked for the Chicago Park District as area manager for the southeast side from 1994 to 1996, managing a staff of 63 and a $1.4 million budget. He worked with then-Supt. Forrest Claypool to restructure the aging authority and make it more responsible to community needs. Mr. Skosey serves as chair of CAN TV, Chicago's public access television station, where he has been a board member since 2002. Mr. Skosey also was founding president of the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs Alumni Association. From 1997 to 2006, Mr. Skosey served by the appointment of Mayor Richard M. Daley on Chicago's Community Development Advisory Committee, a group responsible for reviewing requests for federal funds from Chicago community development organizations.
“Peter has a dedication to advancing both regional policy issues as well as community-based participatory planning processes. He shows a true dedication to assuring that planning is aligned with community interests and that these processes genuinely build capacity along the way. Peter is also the founding president of the CUPPA alumni association, a pursuit that has established this extremely successful organization, which is cause to celebrate this award in his honor,” said Lee Deuben MUPP ’05, Housing and Community Development Planner for the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, and CUPPA Alumni Association Board Member.
Bob Rice MUPP ’02, CUPPA alumni board president, said Skosey’s contribution to the CUPPA alumni group was especially notable since Skosey was instrumental in the formation of key alumni programs, many of which still exist today. Skosey also gave the board from the smallest college at UIC its footing to grow to its present size as the largest alumni board at UIC consisting of 41 members.
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The CUPPA Alumni Association has presented the CUPPA Alumni Appreciation Award recognizing individuals or groups for their dedication to the fields of urban planning and public administration and their contributions to the development of the college's students and alumni. In November 2010, the Board of Directors of the CUPPA-AA voted unanimously to rename the award to the Jim Marek Alumni Appreciation Award honoring the former CUPPA assistant dean for student services, Jim Marek. Marek retired from his post in CUPPA on February 6, 2007 after over twenty-nine years of service to the university, its students and alumni. He unexpectedly died on August 13, 2010.