Former Pittsburgh Mayor, Senior Resident Fellow for Urban Land Institute, Tom Murphy, Announced as Keynote Speaker for ESU’s First Economic Outlook Summit – April 26

ESU Logo

Posted by: admin on April 23, 2013, No Comments

Tom Murphy, a former mayor of Pittsburgh and one of five Urban Land Institute (ULI) senior resident fellows, in Washington D.C., will be the keystone speaker at the ESU Economic Outlook Summit hosted by University President Marcia G. Welsh, Ph.D., on Friday, April 26, 2013 from 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the ESU Innovation Center, 562  Independence Road, East Stroudsburg, Pa. The summit is open to the general public with registration cost set at $25 per person. Seating for the summit is limited and will be reserved on a first-come, first served basis.

Murphy, who holds the Joseph C. Canizaro/Klingbeil Family Chair for Urban Development at ULI, specializes in public policy, retail/urban entertainment, transportation/infrastructure, housing, real estate finance and environmental issues.

As mayor of Pittsburgh, he initiated a public-private partnership strategy that leveraged more than $4.5 billion in economic development in Pittsburgh. Murphy led efforts to secure and oversee $1 billion in funding for the development of two professional sports facilities, and a new convention center that is the largest certified green building in the United States. He developed strategic partnerships to transform more than 1,000 acres of blighted, abandoned industrial properties into new commercial, residential, retail and public uses; and he oversaw the development of more than 25 miles of new riverfront trails and urban green space.

Additionally, Murphy served in the Pennsylvania State General Assembly House of Representatives where he focused legislative activities on changing Western Pennsylvania’s economy from industrial to entrepreneurial. He also authored legislation that created the Ben Franklin Technology Partnership, which is dedicated to advancing Pennsylvania’s focus on technology in the economy; and he authored legislation to encourage industrial land reuse and to transform abandoned rail right-of-ways into trails and green space.

He is an honorary member of the American Society of Landscape Architects; a board member of the Pennsylvania League of Cities and Municipalities; and a board member of the National Rails to Trails Conservancy. He received the 2002 Outstanding Achievement of City Livability Award from the U.S. Conference of Mayors and was selected as the 2001 Pittsburgh Man of the Year Award by Vectors Pittsburgh. He is a 1993 graduate of the New Mayors Program offered by Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He holds a Master of Science degree in urban studies from Hunter College, and a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and chemistry from John Carroll University.

The Urban Land Institute is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit research and education organization founded in 1936. Its worldwide members represent the entire spectrum of land use and real estate development disciplines working in private enterprise and public service. ULI facilitates an open exchange of ideas, information, and experience among industry leaders and policy makers dedicated to creating better places.

To register for the ESU Economic Outlook Summit, contact ESU Research and Economic Development at 570-522-7920.