Mark Gillem
Principal. Professor, University of Oregon. Lt Col (retired), USAF Reserves
Dr. Mark L. Gillem is the Principal of The Urban Collaborative LLC, an interdisciplinary planning and urban design firm that has prepared master plans for military bases in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. He is also a Full Professor in the Architecture and Landscape Architecture Departments at the University of Oregon, where he is also the Director of the Urban Design Lab.
Dr. Gillem has extensive experience in sustainable military planning. He has completed plans at a range of scales for all branches of the U.S. military; from real property master plans to small area development plans at over 100 military installations worldwide. His designs, form-based codes, and collaborative processes are setting a new standard for military planning. His planning work has received numerous awards from the Federal Planning Division of the American Planning Association, including the following eleven awards in 2019-2020: Outstanding Federal Planning Program Honor Award: IMCOM Lodge Program Definition Reports and DD1391s for Camp Zama Lodge, Camp Humphreys Lodge (with EJES, Transystems), Camp Walker Lodge and Hohenfels Lodge (with Atkins-UC JV) (2020); Outstanding Federal Planning Project Merit Award: NASA Johnson Space Center Real Property Master Plan Update (with RS&H) (2020); Outstanding Area/Site Development Plan Merit Award: Joint Base Langley-Eustis Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance Campus (2020); Outstanding Technical Plan or Study Merit Award: Joint Base Langley-Eustis Customer Concept Documents for the Live Mission Operations Capability and 43D Formal Training Unit (FTU) Beddown (2020); Outstanding Federal Planning Project Merit Award: Naval Support Activity Monterey, Installation Development Plan (with Onyx-UC JV) (2019); Outstanding Area/Site Development Plan Merit Award: Joint Task Force Guantanamo, Project Definition Report (with GSRC) (2019); Outstanding Environmental Planning Award Merit Award: Rogue River Regional Master Plan and Integrated Environmental Assessment (2019); Outstanding Collaborative Planning Project Honor Award: Mid-Columbia River Regional Master Plan and Integrated Environmental Assessment (2019); Outstanding Collaborative Planning Project Citation Award: Selfridge Air National Guard Base – Eisenhower Center’s Veteran Care Transition Center Section 106 Report (2019).
Dr. Gillem is a primary instructor for introductory and advanced master planning courses for the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Air Force. The courses he co-teaches for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were recognized by the Federal Planning Division of the American Planning Association as the Outstanding Federal Planning Program of 2010. Dr. Gillem also assists federal agencies with the development of planning policies, including the Army’s Master Planning Regulation (AR210-20) and the DoD’s Unified Facilities Criteria for Installation Master Planning.
Dr. Gillem holds a PhD in Architecture and a Master in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor in Architecture with Highest Distinction from the University of Kansas. He is a licensed architect and certified planner and served on active duty in the U.S. Air Force for nine years. He retired from the U.S. Air Force Reserves at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 2010. Over his 21-year military career, he received numerous military decorations and awards. He was selected in 1999 as the Outstanding U.S. Air Force Reserve Officer of the Year and he received the Toulmin Medal from the Society of American Military Engineers in 1998. He is the author of numerous articles on sustainable military planning and the author of an award-winning book on military bases, America Town: Building the Outposts of Empire (University of Minnesota Press, 2007).
Dr. Gillem is a fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA), and the American Institute of Certified Planners (FAICP). Additionally, he is the Director of the International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments (IASTE). Dr. Gillem was promoted to full professor in Spring 2015.
