ULI Trustee Profile

I am: Joe Brown.

A ULI member since: Early 1980s.

I live in: San Francisco, California.

Favorite way to spend time with family: Holidays at the beach house.

How I unwind: Running and reading, but not at the same time.

What makes me laugh: My wife’s Australian expressions.

What gets under my skin: Thinking and doing in the same old ordinary way—not willing to go beyond self—keeping to a set boundary.

Last book I’ve read: Atonement by Ian McEwan, and The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson.

Individuals I admire most: Frederick Law Olmsted and my father.

Individuals I rely on most: My wife, my children, and my CFO.

First (salaried) job: Very first—mechanic’s assistant, Prince George’s Fuel Co., Maryland. First annual salary—assistant architect, New York State, Urban Development Corp.

What I do now for a living: President and CEO, EDAW, Inc., an international design and planning firm with 24 offices and a 950-member staff.

Project I’m now working on: Roppongi, Tokyo, a mixed-use project and park, Japan; and Avenue Maria University and New Town, Naples, Florida.

Project that makes me proudest: St. Joe Co.’s lands, master strategic, and community design plans.

Professional goal yet to achieve: Increase the level of intellectual discourse and construction quality in the community-making industry. Really change how community is made.

Why I would tell someone to join ULI: ULI is the “keeper” of the intellectual capital of the real estate industry and community-making industries in the U.S. and soon the world. Come and help improve it [intellectual capital] and spread it.