Alan Rabinowitz

Alan Rabinowitz was an urban economist and former chairman of the Department of Urban Planning at the University of Washington. He is the author of seven books on topics ranging from municipal bond finance to social change philanthropy. He has been a major figure in Seattle civic affairs and community organizing. His activities have included serving on the founding boards of Town Hall, and Social Justice Fund Northwest. He also served on the board of the Burke Museum and helped start an endowment fund for the Washington Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Alan served in the US Navy at the end of WWII. He attended Yale University where he was an All American soccer player and majored in government and philosophy. After college he returned to the Navy as a reserve officer. He subsequently got an MBA from Harvard Business School, and a PhD in Urban Studies from MIT.

In 1971, Alan joined the faculty of the University of Washington. After retiring from the University, he and Andrea traveled extensively, working on economic development and community-organizing projects in Eastern European countries and Native American reservations. He also became deeply involved in social change philanthropy, serving on the board of the National Network of Grantmakers and the Peppercorn Foundation, a nonprofit focused on early childhood education.

Alan died in 2017.