Congratulations to Deb Meihoff and Tim Smith, Oregon's Newest FAICP Fellows
Pictured: Deb Meihoff, FAICP, David Siegel, FAICP, and Tim Smith, FAICP in San Diego. Photo courtesy of Deb Meihoff, FAICP
The OAPA Board wishes to congratulate long-time OAPA members Deb Meihoff and Tim Smith, who have both been selected into the AICP College of Fellows. Fellows are recognized for their achievements in advancing the art, science and practice of planning. Election to AICP’s College of Fellows is a process by which a national jury of planning professionals reviews the nominations received from around the country. A small number of nominees are selected to be Fellows through this intensive vetting process.
New Fellows were recognized at the National APA Conference in San Diego.
About Deb Meihoff
Deb has been a leader in bringing equity and full community involvement into planning practice for over 20 years, in public processes with the City of Gresham and across the country that focused on bringing previously under-represented people into the planning process. Her early and continued groundbreaking work in this field has been recognized as a leading example of the kind of on-the-ground, grass roots community building effort that we now regard as one of the most important outcomes of the planning profession. Deb established and currently manages OAPA’s Community Assistance Planning Program, leading teams of volunteer planners in projects in communities around Oregon, most recently in response to the devastating September 2020 wildfires.
Deb earned her undergraduate degree in Sociology from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and her master's degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of New Orleans. She has been an APA member since 1999, and has served on the Oregon APA board as Education and Outreach Committee chair since 2020.
About Tim Smith
Over a forty-year career in planning and urban design, Tim Smith has significantly advanced planning theory and practice through development, implementation and teaching of Civic Ecology. He coined this term to describe a holistic and inclusive method of planning better futures for communities of every size, engaging cultural nuances, local objectives, and sound planning principles. Tim founded and has run the Urban Design and Planning studio at SERA Architects in Portland for the past 20 years, bringing the principles of Civic Ecology to bear on everyday planning practice. Tim led the Metro Great Communities placemaking effort in the Portland Metropolitan Area, as well as in Silicon Valley and in many other communities throughout the world.
Tim earned his undergraduate and master's degrees in Architecture from the University of Michigan, and master's degrees in Urban Design and City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania. He has been an APA member since 1990.