UDC Director Ruth Durack Makes
Move to Australia Permanent
(CUDC Quarterly 4:2 - Summer 2005)

Late last Summer, Ruth Durack took a leave of absence and returned to her home turf in Perth, Australia, to develop a new Urban Design Center in concert with state government and local universities. She has now decided to make the move permanent and resign as UDC Director.

Ruth joined the faculty of the School of Architecture and Environmental Design in the fall of 1998 with the specific responsibility of directing the school’s Urban Design Center (UDC) of Northeast Ohio. During 1998 and early 1999, she was instrumental in developing a new home in Cleveland for the UDC and Kent State University. Ruth’s energy and vision, along with President Carol A. Cartwright’s enthusiastic backing, helped draw leadership support for this initiative from the Cleveland, Gund and FirstEnergy foundations. Ruth was also instrumental in redefining the graduate urban design curriculum which was offered at the new facility. The combined activities of the UDC and the graduate urban design Program are now called the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative (CUDC). Over the last five years, Ruth led the UDC, expanding the size and range of expertise of its staff to allow the UDC to complete about 20 varied projects per year. Kent State University’s CUDC is now recognized as an important advocate for high quality urban design and improving the liveability of Northeast Ohio’s communities. Larger scale projects have included campus master plans for Cleveland State and Youngstown State Universities, with which the CUDC has important service and research connections through the Urban University Program.

Ruth has been a highly valued member of the College of Architecture and Environmental Design Faculty and a strong voice for urban design and graduate education. Our challenge will be to honor Ruth’s contribution through continuation and expansion of the work and energy that Ruth provided to the university and the communities of North East Ohio. —Conrad McWilliams, Interim Dean, College of Architecture and Environmental Design

And Now a Word from Ruth...Via Late-Night Email
Thank you, Conrad – but I wish it didn’t sound so much like an obituary. I am pleased to report that there is indeed life on the other side of the equator, although a very different one. Apart from the weather, which seems to be endlessly “fine”, Western Australia is a mineral-rich state with a booming economy, a fast-growing capital and budget surpluses in the billions. While the challenges are dramatically different, the lessons I learned in Northeast Ohio are proving to be a strong foundation for the new UDC of WA, and I will always be grateful for my years at KSU – in particular, for all the communities who embraced the promise of urban design, and for my colleagues at the CUDC whose talent and commitment was a daily inspiration. Thank you. And leave a light on for me – I’ll be back as often as I can.