Longtime ULI leader Nina J. Gruen, who pioneered the use of behavioral research to predict market demand for commercial and residential real estate, passed away on September 15, 2017. She was 83. Gruen and her husband, Claude Gruen, joined ULI in 1971, not long after founding Gruen Gruen + Associates, a renowned San Francisco–based firm that continues to provide research-based consulting and implementation services to the real estate industry and public land use and planning policy makers. Gruen, who remained active in ULI throughout her career, was elected as the Institute’s first female trustee in 1982, and was named an honorary member in 1996.

Cities and towns around the world are committing to increased use of solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, and hydro energy, and many have achieved some level of success. But so far only a handful can claim they are 100 percent powered by renewable energy.

Billy Grayson, an expert in sustainability program development for companies and organizations, has been selected to serve as the executive director of the ULI Center for Sustainability and Economic Performance.

We are delighted to announce that Ralph Boyd, an outstanding individual who is currently the chief executive officer (CEO) of the American Red Cross’s Massachusetts region, has accepted our offer to serve as ULI’s CEO for the Americas. He brings to ULI nonprofit CEO experience and membership-based organizational experience, familiarity with a decentralized organizational structure, financial leadership, gravitas, and the ability to act both strategically and tactically.

In 2003, Andrew B. Turner was a senior at Berkeley High School in Berkeley, California, when a new interactive program that challenged students to create a development scenario for a local neighborhood made its debut. Nearly 15 years later, Turner is now a project director at Argent LLP, one of London’s most respected developers.

The mayors of Grand Rapids, Michigan; Anchorage, Alaska; and San Jose, California, spoke at a forum presented by the Rose Center for Public Leadership in Land Use in Seattle discussing their solutions for the issues of revitalization, equity, and resilience in cities.

Officials in West Palm Beach, Florida—located in a region that boasts some of the wealthiest residents in the world—have made strides in attracting leading financial firms, while also making significant investments in enhancing residents’ quality of life. At a ULI Southeast Florida event in March, local officials and real estate development experts outlined the city’s plan for attracting new companies to the region.

Teams from Carnegie Mellon University, Université Laval in Quebec, the University of Maryland, and the University of Texas at Austin have been selected as the four finalists for the 15th annual ULI Hines Student Competition.

Cities and suburbs are natural places for designs inspired by natural systems, according The Permaculture City by Toby Hemenway, a guidebook to permaculture design in the concrete jungle. “Permaculture design is turning out to be beautifully suited to urban contexts,” says Hemenway.

Former Indianapolis Mayor William H. Hudnut III, who served as a ULI senior resident fellow and the ULI/Joseph C. Canizaro Chair for Public Policy from 1996 to 2009, passed away on December 18 after a lengthy illness. He was 84.