The Jay Chatterjee Award recognizes an individual whose exceptional service, actions and leadership have had a lasting and positive impact on ACSP and its member schools. This award has been awarded since 1987, and is normally, but not always, awarded in alternate years. The 2012 Jay Chatterjee Award Committee included Don Miller, Sanda Kaufman, Charles Connerly, and G. William Page as Chair. This year there were five outstanding nominees. Each of these individuals have provided long service and made substantial contributions to the enhancement of ACSP's mission.

The 2012 Jay Chatterjee Award winner is Michael Hibbard from the University of Oregon. Mike Hibbard has held a number of leadership positions with ACSP, notably including President of ACSP from 2005 – 2009 and Co-editor of the Journal of Planning Education and Research from 2000 – 2004. The letters nominating and supporting the nomination of Mike Hibbard praise his leadership style, including his organizational skill, his consensus approach to leadership, and his consistent kindness and patience.

Mike Hibbard also played a leadership role in extending the reach of ACSP. Mike served ACSP as our representative to the four member International Steering Committee for the 2001 World Planning Schools Congress in Shanghai. The steering committee faced difficult cultural, financial, and organizational challenges. As one of the supporting letters noted, Mike’s work on that committee “was sensitive, insightful, and most importantly successful well beyond expectations.” After the Shanghai Congress, Mike continued the effort of extending the reach of ACSP by serving on the Planning Globally Taskforce and co-chairing the ACSP Global Planning Educators Interest Group. As supporting letters summarized, Mike Hibbard made a major contribution in extending, “the reach of ACSP to the world stage,” and that Mike’s leadership has helped ACSP “become less provincial and more cosmopolitan in outlook and reach.”

For more than two decades, Mike Hibbard worked for ACSP on most of its important activities. His exceptional service, actions and leadership have made a positive contribution with a lasting impact that deserves to be recognized by the Jay Chatterjee Award.