Margarita Piel McCoy (May 25, 1923 — March 31, 2016) was an American

urban planner An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, town ...

and educator. McCoy was among the first women in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

to achieve

academic tenure Tenure is a category of academic appointment existing in some countries. A tenured post is an indefinite academic appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances, such as financial exigency or program disco ...

as a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

of urban planning, and the first to chair an urban planning department.

Career

Born to Rudolf Alfred Piel and Margarita Schiele, both from

brewing Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and #Fermenting, fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with Yeast#Beer, yeast. It may be done in a brewery ...

families, McCoy is a descendant of the originators of

Piels Beer Piels Beer, also called Piel Bros. Beer and Piel's Beer, is a regional lager beer, originally brewed in the East New York section of Brooklyn, New York City, at 315 Liberty Avenue. History Origins Piels was founded in 1883 by the Piel brother ...

. After finishing

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

in Garden City,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, in 1940, she attended

Wells College Wells College is a private liberal arts college in Aurora, New York. The college has cross-enrollment with Cornell University and Ithaca College. For much of its history it was a women's college. Wells College is located in the Finger Lakes reg ...

and

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. However, McCoy ultimately transferred to

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

, where she received in

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1944. In 1959, she began her career by serving as the planning commissioner for Sudbury,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. In 1970, McCoy received her

Master of Urban Planning Urban planning education is a practice of teaching and learning urban theory, studies, and professional practices. The interaction between public officials, professional planners and the public involves a continuous education on planning process. ...

from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

Sol Price School of Public Policy. McCoy taught at

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona, CPP, or Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in San Luis Obispo. See the '' name'' section of this article for more info ...

, where she served as Chair of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning (1977-1983), as well as at the

. She retired in 1989. McCoy was an active member of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP), the

American Planning Association The American Planning Association (APA) is a professional organization representing the field of urban planning in the United States. APA was formed in 1978, when two separate professional planning organizations, the American Institute of Pla ...

(APA), the

Planning Accreditation Board The Planning Accreditation Board (PAB) is a non-profit educational accreditation organization based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The PAB's mission is to promote excellence among planning programs and ensure high-quality education for futu ...

(PAB), and the

American Institute of Certified Planners The American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) is the American Planning Association's professional institute. AICP certifies professionals in the United States in the field of town planning and assists planners in the areas of ethics, profess ...

(AICP) of which she was president from 1981-1982 and was named fellow. In 1998, the ACSP established the Margarita McCoy Award, which biannually recognizes individuals who have made an outstanding contribution toward the advancement of women in planning at institutions of higher education through service, teaching, and/or research. Notable winners have included

Eugenie L. Birch Eugenie L. Birch is an American scholar and city planner specializing in international and domestic planning history and urban revitalization. Academic posts Birch is the Lawrence C. Nussdorf Professor of Urban Research and Education and the Cha ...

(1995), Karen R. Polenske (2001),

Dolores Hayden Dolores Hayden is an American professor emerita of architecture, urbanism, and American studies at Yale University. She is an urban historian, architect, author, and poet. Hayden has made innovative contributions to the understanding of the soc ...

(2006), and Daphne Spain (2008).

Awards

*2006 -

National Women in Planning Award *2008 -

Sol Price School of Public Policy Alumni Guardian Award *2018 - American Planning Association National Planning Excellence Planning Pioneers Award

Personal life

McCoy married Alfred Mudge McCoy, Jr. on June 10, 1941 in

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

."Marriages"
''The Newton Graphic'', June 15, 1944. p. 3.

References

External links

APA profile
1923 births 2016 deaths American people of German descent People from Long Island People from La Habra, California Boston University alumni USC Sol Price School of Public Policy alumni American urban planners Women urban planners California State Polytechnic University, Pomona faculty University of Southern California faculty {{Planning-stub