SERA’s Tim Smith awarded FAICP Fellowship
We at SERA are thrilled to congratulate Tim Smith for achieving the planning profession’s highest honor by being named to the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) College of Fellows. AICP is Planning’s national authority for certification in the US, and their College of Fellows includes professionals who have not only done great project work, but who have moved the profession forward through mentoring, volunteering their expertise, and bringing innovative thought and approaches to their peers.
Tim is a principal at SERA and the founder of the firm’s Urban Design and Planning Studio. He is one of 53 inductees into this year’s College of Fellows.
“Tim brings deep sustainability research and thinking to bear on every one of his projects and cares deeply about creating lively and enduring places and making people’s daily lives better,” says Matt Arnold—the second member of SERA’s UDP Studio and now its director and a principal with the firm. “The impact he has had on our profession, his co-workers, and the communities and clients he serves has been positive and transformative.”
AICP Fellowship is granted to planners who have achieved certification through the American Planning Association’s professional institute, the American Institute of Certified Planners, and have achieved excellence in professional practice, teaching and mentoring, research, public and community service, and leadership. Invitations to join the College of Fellows come after a thorough nomination and review process, ensuring the candidate has had a positive, long-lasting impact on the planning profession.
According to past AICP President Valerie Hubbard, “Individuals who make up the College of Fellows are the true leaders of the planning profession. These individuals have made lasting contributions to the profession and have inspired generations of new planners. They are truly awe-inspiring.”
Tim, a registered architect and certified planner with more than 40 years of professional experience, has served in a variety of leadership roles and positions, including: Vice President of the Portland Planning Commission, as Urban Design Advisor to the City of San Francisco for the Treasure Island Redevelopment, on the Portland Chapter AIA Urban Design Committee, the Portland Mayor’s Central City Roundtable, as Chairman of the Portland Metro Construction Excise Tax/Community Planning and Development Grants Advisory Committee, and as a member of the City of Portland EcoDistrict Technical Advisory Committee. Currently, he is engaged in long-range framework planning and urban design for both Google and the Oregon Museum of Science and industry (OMSI).
His work reflects his conviction that creating enduring, equitable, sustainable communities is planning’s highest purpose. He believes that authentic, systems-based stakeholder engagement is the best avenue for achieving that purpose. Smith’s passion sparked his singular creation and implementation of a whole-community planning framework called Civic Ecology, which, through research, testing and refinement has evolved into a widely emulated organizing feature of his professional work.
Congratulations, Tim!
