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Expert received a Bachelor of Architecture degree and a Masters in Urban Planning degree from the University of Illinois and is a nationally recognized expert in participatory comprehensive city and neighborhood planning.

After initial employment at Barton-Aschman Associates, a national planning and transportation firm, he co-founded a company building it into a premier, nationally recognized urban planning consultancy assisting cities, towns, and private developers throughout the USA. He has maintained an “of-counsel” relationship with the firm since 2015.

Much of his work focuses on three areas of practice --optimizing the relationship between the use of land and transportation systems, zoning, and community-based neighborhood planning. He assisted over 200 units of government including Cook, Kane, Lake, Macon, McHenry, and Will Counties IL; Chicago, Decatur, Libertyville, Palatine, Oswego, Des Plaines, and Schaumburg IL; Appleton, Racine, Milwaukee, and Chippewa Falls WI; Toledo and Bowling Green, OH; Fargo and Grand Forks ND; Austin TX; Phoenix AZ; South Bend IN; San Jose, CA; and Raleigh NC.

In Chicago he has been responsible for 20 Neighborhood plans; many strategic and tax increment redevelopment plans, including those for the Kinzie Corridor and the Cabrini-Green area; and the Chicago Empowerment Zone plan. He has prepared zoning ordinances for over two dozen municipalities, including Baltimore MD, Buffalo, NY, Cleveland Heights, and Shaker Heights, OH, New Orleans LA, Clark County (Las Vegas) NV, Oklahoma City OK, Palm Beach County FL, Providence, RI, Salt Lake City UT; and Libertyville, Wilmette, St. Charles, and Oak Park IL.

He has written extensively on urban planning matters and several book chapters on the Practice of Urban Planning. He has published articles in academic and professional planning journals, magazines, and newspapers, such as Planning Magazine, the Chicago Tribune, Crain’s Chicago Business, and APA Zoning Practice.
He earlier taught full-time at the University of Illinois and served as adjunct faculty at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois Institute of Technology, and Loyola University of Chicago. He is currently an Urban Scholar at the University of Illinois, Chicago.

Expert is a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners and a Fellow of Lambda Alpha International, where he served as President of the Ely (Chicago) Chapter and, subsequently served as International President. In Wilmette, he served as Chair of the Plan Commission and later was elected to serve two terms on the Municipal Council.