THE FRANCIS STUART CHAPIN JR. PROFESSORSHIP
(One of The Margaret and Paul A. Johnston Professorships)
A pioneer in the Department of City and Regional Planning, F. Stuart Chapin Jr. spent nearly four decades establishing and improving the department's urban studies curriculum.
Chapin was born in Northampton, Mass., in 1916. He earned a B.A. from the University of Minnesota and two degrees in city planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Chapin was a regional planner with the Tennessee Valley Authority and the director of planning for the city of Greensboro. He is an expert in the areas of urban growth, land development, human uses of city space and citizen participation in the planning process.
Chapin joined UNC-CH in 1949. He conducted many studies for the federal government and was a member of the President's Task Force on Cities. He was the director of the urban studies program from 1957 until 1962, when he founded the department's Center for Urban and Regional Studies. He was the center's research director from its inception until his retirement in 1978.
Shortly before he was named an Alumni Distinguished Professor in city and regional planning in 1969, he received the Distinguished Service Award from the American Institute of Planners. The same organization later presented him with its Historic Planning Pioneer Award. In 1992, Stuart Chapin and his wife, the former Mildred L. Canfield, established the F. Stuart Chapin Jr. and Mildred L. Chapin Endowment Fund. The fund supports the library in the Department of City and Regional Planning, which is named in Chapin's honor.
The Chapins have three children: F. Stuart III, Alison and Steven (B.A. ’74).
The Margaret and Paul A. Johnston Professorships were established in 1987 by a bequest in Paul A. Johnston’s will for more than $10 million -- the second largest bequest received by the University. The series of professorships in the College of Arts and Sciences honors retired faculty members. The number of professorships varies, as does the academic disciplines to which they are assigned. Paul Johnston specified that the retired faculty members for whom professorships are named must be living when the professorships are created. For more information on the Johnstons, see the entry on The Margaret and Paul A. Johnston Professorships.
Francis Stuart Chapin Professors:
1998-99: Judith Bennett, Department of History