Richard D. Baron

Richard D. Baron is co-founder and chairman of McCormack Baron Salazar, a leading urban real-estate development company focusing on revitalizing neighborhoods throughout the United States. The firm, founded in 1973, redevelops blighted areas and areas of concentrated poverty into economically-integrated communities. The firm has been closely involved in the formation of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s HOPE VI and Choice Neighborhood Programs and, under those programs, has revitalized over 30 former public housing sites into thriving, economically-integrated, safe communities. The firm has also received allocations of New Markets Tax Credits, which have been used for economic development, provision of social services, healthy food initiatives, educational investments and job creation in revitalizing communities.

In addition to his leadership of McCormack Baron Salazar, Mr. Baron was the co-founder and co-chairman of the Vashon Education Compact, a partnership of the St. Louis Public Schools and major corporations, and he is the founder and developer of The Center of Creative Arts (COCA), in University City, Missouri. In 2003, he established the Center for Urban Redevelopment Excellence at the University of Pennsylvania.

In October 2004, Richard Baron received The Urban Land Institute J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development. The Nichols Prize was established by the Nichols family in 2000 to recognize individuals whose career has demonstrated a commitment to the highest standards of responsible community and real estate development.

Mr. Baron is a graduate of Oberlin College and holds a master’s degree in political science from the University of California-Berkeley, and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Michigan. He has been awarded honorary degrees from Oberlin College and St. Louis University and received the Medal of Achievement Award from the University of Pennsylvania – Penn Design.