by Char Miller

At the packed formal luncheon in the Great Hall, which concluded the 2005 Earl Lewis Symposium on Urban Affairs, Char Miller, Director of Urban Studies, announced the recipients of the program’s various annual prizes. The theme of this year’s conference was “A Tale of Two Cities: Atlanta & San Antonio,” a focus that was reflected in the lives and activism of the honorees.  

Dick Layton, MA ’74, received the second Lewis Legacy Prize for Outstanding Service in Urban Affairs. A native of San Antonio, Mr. Layton completed his graduate work at Trinity before moving to Atlanta to become an intern at Research Atlanta, Inc. He later served as its executive director before working for Atlanta’s legendary mayor, Maynard Jackson, as Commissioner of Budget and Planning. Although he left public service in 1982, Layton continued to work on behalf of municipalities, other governmental agencies, and non-profit organizations as a senior investment banker or financial advisor. Since 1989, he has managed A.G. Edwards’ public finance office in Atlanta, helping to underwrite some of that city’s most important redevelopment, rehabilitation, and tax allocation districts. An alumnus of Leadership Atlanta and a past president of the Board of Directors of Research Atlanta, Mr. Layton is a registered principle of the National Association of Securities Dealers and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board. In announcing the award, Miller praised Layton’s “financial engineering” that helped transform Atlanta’s built landscape.

The late Maynard Jackson (1938-2003) was honored in two ways. Trinity Trustee Walter Huntley (BA ‘71; MA ’73) delivered a stirring tribute to his former boss, for whom he served in a number of key administrative positions between 1974 and 1982. After the audience watched a video clip of the mayor’s accomplishments, Professor Miller announced that the Urban Studies program was launching a new award, The Trinity Prize for Innovative Urban Governance, and that Jackson was its first recipient. Accepting the award on the behalf of the Jackson family was the mayor’s sister, Carol Jackson Miller, who spoke movingly of her brother’s achievements and legacy.

A third, and surprise award, was then bestowed upon the luncheon’s keynote speaker Henry Cisneros, former mayor of San Antonio and former Secretary of HUD. At the conclusion of Alex Briseno’s laudatory introduction, in which he detailed Mayor Cisneros’ many accomplishments, Professor Miller awarded Cisneros the second Trinity Prize for Innovative Urban Governance. Startled, Cisneros quipped that it “was never a good idea to leave your speaker speechless,” then proceeded to deliver a fluent analysis and compelling argument about the relative strengths of Atlanta and San Antonio, and the futures that lie before these fast-growing urban centers.

The Catherine Powell Prize of Outstanding Student in Urban Studies was awarded the evening before, during the conference’s opening ceremonies in the Holt Center. Its recipient, Katelyn Werner, ’05, who graduated in May, and currently works in the Bexar County District Attorney's Office in the Criminal Trial Division, is applying to graduate schools to earn a dual degree in law and public affairs