The School of Environmental Design and Rural Development was saddened to learn of the recent passing of Dr. Douglas Hoffman.  Dr. Hoffman was the Director of the Centre for Resources Development at the University of Guelph in the latter part of the 1970’s and went on to serve as the Director of the School of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Waterloo.  The Centre for Resources Development contributed directly to the establishment of the University School of Rural Planning and Development, which is the forerunner of the Rural Planning and Development program in the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development.  Professor Hoffman was an expert in rural planning and contributed to many of Ontario’s soil surveys dating back to the 1950’s.  Professor Emeritus David Douglas remembers Dr. Hoffman as a “good humoured, intelligent and inquisitive professional who maintained a very strong conviction of our need to understand ourselves as an integral part of nature. Doug was a practical professional convinced of the need for good applied research, solid field-based analysis, and informed rural and environmental policy and planning.”

He passed away June 26th and was in his 94th year.