Mark Schimmenti, in his early career, lived in New York and worked with Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown in their NYC office lead by Frederic Schwartz. While there he helped to develop the Westway Plan for Manhattan’s west side. Much of his appreciation for architecture and urbanism stems from those formative years. Cities, civic space and good planning are Mark’s passion. He has contributed to remarkable town planning and design efforts in many places. Mark served as the first Director of Design for The Nashville Civic Design Center, a major Nashville institution and was responsible for a one-year public process, with over 800 participants. The resulting Plan of Nashville received a great deal of publicity and was published by Vanderbilt Press. Together with Frederic Schwartz he collaborated on plans and directed community workshops in New Orleans after the devastation of hurricane Katrina. He played an essential role in the master plans developed by Schwartz Architects for renewal in downtown Jackson, Mississippi and he was with the THINK team in New York as we set out to re-envision lower Manhattan following the attacks of September 11, 2001. In a national context, Mark Schimmenti was a founding member of the Congress for New Urbanism, along with Elizabeth Plater Zyberk and Andres Duany. Design principles for New Urbanism has had a tremendous impact on policies and development that promote a sense of community through good urban design: form-based codes, pedestrian-friendly transportation policies, planned density, transit-oriented development, urban infill strategies, and affordable housing. Perhaps his greatest contribution lies in his sphere of influence and looking at the accomplishments of many of his acolytes: David Dewhirst, Buzz Goss, Jack Neely, Wayne Blasius, John Sanders, Gary Gaston, and countless others.