Robert H. McNulty is currently President of Partners for Livable Communities. Before he founded Partners, McNulty was Assistant Director of the Art and Architecture program at the National Endowment for the Arts for seven years. During that time, he was considered the prime mover of the Endowment’s pioneering efforts to promote city livability. He formerly directed the Columbia University’s School of Architecture program of historic preservation, and worked as environmental adviser to the General Services Administration. McNulty has also served as Assistant to the Director of the Museum of American History (formerly known as the Museum of History and Technology) at the Smithsonian Institution.

McNulty is a lawyer with a J.D. degree from Boalt Hall at the University of California, Berkeley, where he also obtained his undergraduate degree in business. He is the recipient of fellowships from both Harvard and Yale Universities.

An accomplished public speaker, McNulty has addressed numerous national, regional and local groups, ranging from the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities to the Aspen Institute and the Memphis Jobs Conference.

Robert McNulty has been a frequent writer, editor and contributor on urban strategies over the last twenty years. He served as a researcher/writer on the urban section of Use of Land in 1972; was editor of the By Design report on the Architecture and Design Program of the National Endowment for the Arts, published in 1976. McNulty was guest editor of the Journal of Architectural Education of the American Insitute of Architects for a special issue on historic preservation in America in 1976; co-editor of Neighborhood Conservation in 1976; editor of Livability Digest: Issues in Urban Archaeology in 1983; writer of Economics of Amenity in 1985; the Return of the Livable City in 1986; the Entrepreneurial American City in 1986; and editor of The Better Communities Catalogue in 1989. McNulty contributed a chapter to Henry Cisneros’ Interwoven Destinies on quality of life for cities in 1993, and was writer and co-editor of the State of the American Community report in 1994.

Robert McNulty has also written for the Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, the Atlanta Magazine, and California Monthly Magazine.

Partners for Livable Communities

Founded by Robert McNulty, Partners for Livable Communities (formerly Partners for Livable Places) is a non-profit, Washington, D.C.-based coalition of 1,000 organizations concerned with the economic health, quality of life, and social equity of communities.