Recovery Czar ...

From the web site of his namesake agency:

Edward J. Blakely has been appointed by New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin as Executive Director for Recovery Management, where he will coordinate and direct Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts in New Orleans.

He also will act as the primary recovery interface to all regional, state, and federal agencies. In addition, Blakely will also serve as the Mayor’s designee on other recovery related issues.

Blakely, who is the Chair of Urban and Regional Planning at The University of Sydney, is nationally and internationally recognized for his extensive experience in the design of recovery strategies for cities across the country.

In 1999, Blakely, while serving as Dean of the Milano Graduate School at the New School University in New York, was on hand for the devastating disaster at the World Trade Center. He also coordinated the New School’s recovery strategy along with providing policy guidance for 100 Black Men of New York with respect to participation of minorities in the recovery.

In 1989, Blakely guided recovery efforts in Oakland following the Loma Prieta earthquake. He served under two Oakland mayors as Chief Policy Advisor.

He has held roles in the private sector as a senior manager with the Pacific Telephone Co., a Special Assistant for domestic policy for the U.S. State Department and an investment partner in Humboldt Realty and SE Development Corp. in California.

Blakely has written extensively, with more than 200 scholarly articles and eight books. He is an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, a member of the selection board for the Fulbright Fellowship, a former member of the Fulbright Association Board of Directors, and Rhode Scholarship Board Chair for the western United States.

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