{"309041":{"#nid":"309041","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Benjamin Harrison (Harry) West, 1941 - 2014","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022cmCredit\u0022\u003EBy \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ajc.com\/staff\/christopher-seward\/\u0022\u003EChristopher Seward\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022cmSource\u0022\u003EThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECatherine Ross last saw Harry West hard at work two weeks ago.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERoss, Georgia Tech\u2019s director of the Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development, said West, a former longtime Atlanta Regional Commission executive director and now Tech professor, was determined to continue \u201cmoving mountains and regions\u201d when it came to regional planning despite battling an illness.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cHe just had a work ethic that was not comparable to any that I\u2019ve ever observed,\u201d said Ross, who called West a mentor, friend and sometime therapist.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBenjamin Harrison West, who served as ARC executive for 27 years before stepping down in 2000 and who was a Tech professor of the practice of quality growth and regional development, died Monday at Emory University Hospital from a serious lung infection, the ARC announced Tuesday. He was 72.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe visitation will be Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. at H.M. Patterson \u0026amp; Son-Oglethorpe Hill Chapel at 4550 Peachtree Road NE. A service will be held at the same location Thursday at 11 a.m.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe ARC credited West with a wide range of initiatives to encourage regional approaches to addressing some of metro Atlanta\u2019s biggest economic challenges, whether growth, transportation or adequate water resources.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cHe developed programs and created a sense of regional connectedness, which still reverberate positively today,\u201d said Doug Hooker, current ARC executive director. \u201cMore importantly, he had a vision, a dedication and a high set of standards, which will continue to propel metro Atlanta far into the future.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWest founded the Regional Leadership Institute in 1991 to train local leaders on regional issues and hosted annual visits through the ARC\u2019s Leadership, Involvement, Knowledge and Networking, or LINK, program, which allowed leaders to see how other cities were dealing with urban issues.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWest, who served as ARC executive director from 1973 to 2000, instituted reviews of commercial and residential development proposals to determine their regional impact before projects got under way.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWest joined Tech in the 2007-2008 academic year, continued to push for regional solutions to transportation and education issues, said Ross, who is also Tech\u2019s Harry West professor of city and regional planning, a chair funded by Post Properties founder John Williams.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFormer Atlanta Mayor Sam Massell called West, a Harvard University and University of Georgia graduate, a role model for aspiring governmental leaders.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere just isn\u2019t a better example of the integrity and knowledge we should want in our leaders,\u201d said Massell, now president of the Buckhead Coalition.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWest is survived by his wife, Jane, a son, Jeff West of Atlanta, and daughter Susan Johnson of Atlanta, and two grandchildren.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAdditional links:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn 2008, Mr. West was interviewed by Dan Reuter of the Atlanta Regional Commission as part of the Georgia Planning Association\u0027s \u003Cem\u003EHistory of GPA\u003C\/em\u003E video series. That interview is available online \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/vimeo.com\/5494362\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eat this link.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERead more about Mr. West on the City and Regional Planning webpage by clicking \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.planning.gatech.edu\/news\/benjamin-harrison-harry-west-1941-2014\u0022\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EULI Atlanta Awards for Excellence Dinner\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHarry West will be posthumously honored with the Dan and Tally Sweat Community Award at the Urban Land Institute Atlanta Awards for Excellence Dinner, celebrating 20 years of excellence.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Harry West, 72: Regional planner, professor"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECatherine Ross last saw Harry West hard at work two weeks ago.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERoss, Georgia Tech\u2019s director of the Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development, said West, a former longtime Atlanta Regional Commission executive director and now Tech professor, was determined to continue \u201cmoving mountains and regions\u201d when it came to regional planning despite battling an illness.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cHe just had a work ethic that was not comparable to any that I\u2019ve ever observed,\u201d said Ross, who called West a mentor, friend and sometime therapist.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Benjamin Harrison (Harry) West, 1941 - 2014"}],"uid":"27820","created_gmt":"2014-07-16 12:18:37","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:45","author":"Angelika Braig","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-07-15T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-07-15T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"61111":{"id":"61111","type":"image","title":"Harry West","body":null,"created":"1449176308","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:58:28","changed":"1475894531","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:11","alt":"Harry West","file":{"fid":"191274","name":"Harry_West.JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Harry_West_0.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Harry_West_0.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1595192,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Harry_West_0.JPG?itok=nTIxoyoW"}}},"media_ids":["61111"],"groups":[{"id":"1260","name":"CQGRD - Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}