Henry S. Webber

Professor of Practice
Executive Vice Chancellor for Administration, Washington University in St. Louis

 

Master of Public Policy, Harvard University

Phone: 314-935-7877

E-mail: hwebber@wustl.edu

 
 

Research interests:

Community Development

Mixed income housing

Anchor institutions in urban development

Urban development

Bio:

On March 1, 2008 Henry S. Webber became Executive Vice Chancellor for Administration at Washington University in St. Louis, MO.  He is also Adjunct Professor in Washington University’s Sam Fox School of Art and Architecture and Senior Lecturer at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work.

Mr. Webber serves as the University’s chief administrative officer and oversees facilities, campus planning, capital projects, environmental safety and health, campus security, transportation, dining, off-campus real estate acquisition and development, human resources, sustainability and a variety of other administrative and external affairs areas with combined operating and capital budgets of over $400M annually and over 750 University and contracted staff.  He chairs the University’s administrative cabinet. Since coming to Washington University in 2008, Mr. Webber has led the development of the University’s real estate master plan, long-term housing strategy and sustainability master plans and leads, along with the Provost and Chief Financial Officer, the University budget process.

Prior to his appointment at Washington University, Mr. Webber spent 21 years at the University of Chicago, most recently as the University of Chicago’s vice president for community and government affairs. Under his guidance, the University of Chicago’s community affairs program was recognized in a national study as one of dozen strongest programs in the United States. One of Mr. Webber’s most notable achievements was to promote the revitalization of the North Kenwood/Oakland and Woodlawn neighborhoods on Chicago’s South Side, which was accomplished by collaborating and forging relationships with the area’s community, religious, civic and political leaders. He also played a leading role in the establishment of the Urban Education Initiative, a University of Chicago effort which develops charter schools, offers teacher training and supports basic and applied research on educational issues. Mr. Webber was the founding chair of the Governing Board of the University of Chicago Charter School Corporation, which operates four public lottery admission charter schools on the south side of Chicago with an enrollment of more than 1,500 students. Other accomplishments included leading the public affairs components of a successful campaign to retain a five-year, $2.5 billion contract with the U.S. Department of Energy to manage the Argonne National Laboratory, one of the department's largest research centers.

As a faculty member at the University of Chicago and Washington University, Mr. Webber teaches courses on topics including community development, health policy, strategic management and social welfare policy. His research has centered around community development, mixed-income housing, and the role of anchor institutions in urban development.

He is currently on the Board of Directors of the Center for Research Technology and Entrepreneurial Exchange (CORTEX), a 200 acre urban biotech redevelopment project; the Washington University Medical Center Redevelopment Corporation; Forest Park Forever; The Gateway Mall Conservancy; Focus St. Louis; Provident; the Regional Housing and Community Development Association; and the Jewish Federation of St. Louis. He previously served on the Board of Directors of Shorebank, the largest community development bank in the United States.

Mr. Webber graduated with honors from Brown University and has a Master's degree in Public Policy from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Mr. Webber and his wife, Christine K. Jacobs, M.D., have two children. They live in the Central West End area of the City of St. Louis.

 
 
 

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