Anne Tate

on sabbatical academic year 2023–24

A pioneer in sustainable planning for 20 years, Anne Tate leads various sustainability initiatives on campus. She is interested in the intersection of design and policy and served in 2003–04 as special advisor on sustainable development in the Office for Commonwealth Development (OCD) in Massachusetts, a post that combined the executive offices of environment, energy, housing and transportation. At the OCD she led two signature efforts: the Sustainable Development Principles and the Transit Oriented Development Initiative. With Doug Foy, Tate negotiated the settlement that unlocked development for 145 acres of prime waterfront land in Somerville, MA. She now co-chairs the Citizen Advisory Committee in Somerville. Her current project, Urban Eden, illustrates what our cities could be like if we were to build in partnership with nature.

Tate earned the AIAYoung Architects Award for Community Service and first place in the Progressive Architecture design competition for affordable housing. In addition to teaching at RISD, she has lectured at Yale, Harvard and Princeton.