Taubman College Robert Marans, FAICP, B.Arch ’57, an emeritus professor of architecture and urban and regional planning, was named a 2021 notable nonprofit board member by Crain’s Detroit Business.
Marans was recognized for showing his love for the greenspaces in southeast Michigan through service. “For over four decades, our Metroparks have benefited from Bob Marans’s commitment to constructively challenging our planning, engineering, interpretive, and administrative staff to continuously enhance the quality of the visitor experience at each of our 13 parks,” said Huron-Clinton Metroparks Commissioner Timothy McCarthy.
Marans’s research has focused on attributes of the physical and sociocultural environments and their influence on individual and group behavior, well-being, and quality of life. He is chair of the Huron Clinton Metropolitan Authority board of commissioners, where he played a key role in the hiring of the agency’s director and helped establish the Metroparks Foundation. He is also a founding board member of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy and founding commissioner and immediate past chair of the Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Commission. As the pandemic drove more people outdoors, Crain’s noted that Marans was part of the team that guided the nonprofits in their efforts to adapt staffing, budgeting, and programming.
