Long time Urban Land Institute (ULI) leader and former Urban Land Institute Foundation chairman James J. Curtis III, also known as Jim Curtis, was posthumously named as a ULI Life Trustee, an honor reserved for ULI’s most dedicated and respected members in 2020. The honor was celebrated in-person at the 2021 ULI Fall meeting in Chicago, IL.

His family, including his parents, joined ULI at Revel Motor Row for the Global Governor’s Trustee Dinner, where Curtis’ wife, Melodie Duke received the award on his behalf. Jim was a visionary and is the namesake of the ULI Foundation’s James J. Curtis Society for Planned Giving.

Life Trustees are individuals whose service to ULI has been meaningful, distinctive, and extraordinary, with individuals selected based on their contributions of time and resources to ULI and the ULI Foundation; leadership and participation in committees, task forces, councils, and advisory services; standing and reputation in the land use industry; and years as a ULI full member and trustee.

Melodie Duke, said: “Curtis would have been very proud to have been honored as a ULI Life Trustee.  He was a man of many ideas driven by hopeful exuberance, and ULI proved to be a crucial part of putting his ideas and philanthropic contributions into motion.  He loved being part of the Institute and would be pleased to know that his work continues to live on and make a difference. I believe he would also consider this designation to be not only an honor to him, but also a tribute to the importance of passion, imagination, and generosity that is in all of us.”

ULI Global Chief Executive Officer, W. Edward Walter, noted that in over 40 years of membership, “the only thing that surpasses [his] generosity is the strength of [his] long standing commitment to ULI and its members.” Curtis’ bequest to the ULI Foundation escalated his charitable contributions to exceed $11 million, establishing James J. Curtis III as a Marcus Vitruvius Society Member, the ULI Foundation’s highest accolade.

Curtis was managing partner at Bristol Group, a San Francisco-based real estate investment and development firm, and passed away in June 2019. Curtis was a ULI member for nearly 40 years, ULI Trustee for 20 years, and the ULI Foundation chairman from July 2012 through June 2014.

In addition to being a ULI Foundation chairman, Foundation Benefactor, and ULI Trustee, Curtis served the Institute in many capacities, including 35 years of involvement in the product council network. He was a devoted member of the Small-Scale Development Council, and he was a featured speaker at meetings of that council as well as the Capital Markets Council and the Mixed-Use and Multi-Use Development Council. His extensive volunteerism also included service as chairman of the Council Chairs Advisory Group, the Hines Student Design Competition, and the Awards for Excellence Management Committee, as well as membership on the Program Committee, the Policy and Practice Committee, the Governance and Nominating Committee, and ULI San Francisco’s Governance Committee.

Prior to his passing, Curtis had worked with current ULI Foundation Chairman Douglas D. Abbey and other Institute leaders on a campaign to significantly increase the Foundation’s support for ULI’s mission-oriented work, including efforts to increase diversity within the industry, increase sustainability throughout the built environment, enhance the Institute’s education programs, and expand the Advisory Services program.

ULI Global Chairman Owen D. Thomas notes that Curtis was tremendously influential in the Foundation’s growth over the years. “He believed fervently in fostering a culture of philanthropy to expand ULI’s mission-focused work because he was passionate about our Institute’s potential as a game-changing organization,” Thomas says. “We all benefited from his energy, enthusiasm, and leadership, and I believe he fully deserves to be posthumously selected as a ULI Life Trustee.”

In addition to being a ULI Foundation chairman, Foundation Benefactor, and ULI Trustee, Curtis served the Institute in many capacities, including 35 years of involvement in the product council network. He was a devoted member of the Small-Scale Development Council, and he was a featured speaker at meetings of that council as well as the Capital Markets Council and the Mixed-Use and Multi-Use Development Council. His extensive volunteerism also included service as chairman of the Council Chairs Advisory Group, the Hines Student Design Competition, and the Awards for Excellence Management Committee, as well as membership on the Program Committee, the Policy and Practice Committee, the Governance and Nominating Committee, and ULI San Francisco’s Governance Committee.

Below is the tribute video to Jim that was viewed by those in attendance at his recognition ceremony in Chicago, IL.