Upcoming Events

Stay tuned for updates regarding the Spring 2024 Lunchtime Talks.

Past Events

Friday, November 17, 2023

Maurice Cox, former Commissioner, Planning and Development, City of Chicago

Maurice Cox stepped down in September 2023 as Commissioner for the City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development after serving under Mayor Lori Lightfoot since 2019. Celebrated for his experience merging architecture, design, politics, and development through multiple public, private and elected positions, Maurice Cox led the City of Chicago’s design and urban revitalization efforts as Commissioner of the Department of Planning and Development under Mayor Lori Lightfoot since 2019 until stepping down in September 2023. In that role, he implemented an urban revitalization strategy that to date has attracted more than $1.2 billion in private investment commitments to underserved neighborhoods, elevated the design standards of local construction projects through a pro bono committee on design consisting of 24 globally renowned architects, and tripled the City’s planning capacity through a comprehensive reorganization and expansion of the department.

Previously, Cox held the position of Planning and Development Director for the City of Detroit commencing in 2015. Before that, he was Associate Dean for Community Engagement at Tulane University School of Architecture and Director of the Tulane City Center, a university-affiliated practice operating at the intersection of design, urban research, and civic engagement. Cox has been a tenured associate professor of architecture at the University of Virginia and also taught at Syracuse University and the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He was mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia, from 2002 to 2004. He served as Design Director of the National Endowment for the Arts from 2007 to 2010, leading the NEA’s Your Town Rural Institute, the Governor’s Institute on Community Design, the Mayors’ Institute on City Design, and overseeing grants to the design community across the United States. He practiced architecture for 10 years in Florence, Italy, with his architect partner and wife, Giovanna Galfione.

In 2023, Cox was inducted today into the American Academy of Arts and Letters for a lifetime of achievements in architecture. Previously, Cox was named one of the Most Admired Design Educators in America in the annual ranking of Design Intelligence.

Friday, October 20, 2023

Kim Sherman Stamler, President of Related Beal, the Boston office of Related Companies

Kimberly Sherman Stamler is the president of Related Beal, the Boston office of Related Companies, where she is responsible for the overall management of the firm. She leads the company in its pursuit of new development and opportunities and in all financing activities across New England. Related Beal is active in various asset classes, including affordable and market-rate, life science, office, hotel, senior housing, retail, public realm and mixed-use.

Kim serves or has served on several boards, including the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, A Better City, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and Habitat for Humanity Greater Boston.

Friday, September 15, 2023

John F. Fish, Chairman and CEO of Suffolk

“No two points in time are equal” — The future of real estate is today.

John F. Fish is Chairman and CEO of Suffolk, a national contractor and real estate enterprise that invests, innovates, and builds. Under his leadership, Suffolk has grown into one of the leading privately held builders in the country.

John is the Chair of the Real Estate Roundtable. He is a Director of the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership and former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. John sits on the Executive Committee of the Real Estate Board of New York and the Business Roundtable. John serves as Chair of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Boston College.