Burke, Gerald 1914–2007

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born August 3, 1914; died July 15, 2007. Town planner, educator, and author. Burke became a chartered surveyor and chartered town planner after discovering the career field while working as a clerk at the College of Estate Management in Reading, England. Following service in the British Army during World War II he returned to the college, earned his certification, and began teaching classes for land surveyors. After brief study in the Netherlands and a few years working and teaching in Kenya in the 1950s, Burke found his way back to the College of Estate Management again. He was the head of the town planning department in 1972 when he and the college were absorbed into the University of Reading. It was in the city of Reading, during a period of redevelopment in which charming Victorian structures demolished to make room for utilitarian modern buildings, that Burke reportedly developed his interest in urban conservation. In 1976 Burke moved to Oxford Polytechnic (now Oxford Brookes University) to establish a department of estate management. He finished his formal career there in 1981 but continued his work as an educator into the 1990s, with a videotaped series of lectures on town planning intended for home study and distance learning. Burke's writings include Greenheart Metropolis (1966), Towns in the Making (1971), Townscapes (1976), and Town Planning and the Surveyor (1980).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Times (London, England), August 14, 2007, p. 47.

ONLINE

Times Online,http://www.timesonline.co.uk/ (August 9, 2007).