Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.). Center for Urban Affairs and Policy Research

The Center for Urban Affairs was founded in 1969 by Professor Raymond W. Mack in order to work with Chicago area community groups and promote interdisciplinary research on urban policy issues. Renamed the Center for Urban Affairs and Policy Research in 1983, its mission was expanded to include research that would contribute to the scholarly literature and to the solution of problems facing American cities. In addition, the CUAPR would facilitate the growth and development of interdisciplinary, social-policy faculty and programs, participate in discussions of important public policy issues, and engage in selective, cooperative ventures with government and private organizations.

In the early part of the 1980s, Northwestern University's Center for Urban Affairs and Policy Research (CUAPR) and Louis H. Masotti, Director of the Center from 1971-1980, were involved in the planning for a World's Fair to be held in Chicago in 1992. Dr. Masotti's background in urban policies made him a valuable member of the Economic Development Committee for the Fair project, and the CUAPR's mission to promote research on prevalent urban policy issues facing the community provided a scholarly environment in which to debate the viability of Chicago hosting its third World's Fair, given the success of the previous efforts in 1893 and 1933.

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