William H. Whyte Award

The William H. Whyte Award recognizes those individuals who have exemplified and maintained the mission and ardor of Whyte, whose work provides a factual basis for achieving livability through empirical observations of the relationship of human beings to place.

M.J. “Jay” Brodie has been a leader in the real estate and development field for more than 40 years, beginning in 1969 with the Baltimore City Department of Housing and Community Development where he molded much of the character and image of the Inner Harbor and many neighborhoods.

As Executive Director (1984-1993) of the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation, a federal corporation established by Congress to revitalize a 21-block, 110-acre area between the White House and the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Jay oversaw the near completion of the nation’s most prestigious urban redevelopment project using $150 million public funds to attract $1.5 billion in private investment.

From 1996 until his retirement in 2012, Jay served as President of the Baltimore Development Corporation (BDC), a non-profit organization working with the City of Baltimore to provide economic development services. Under his leadership, BDC’s efforts retained or attracted an estimated 62,672 jobs in 1,087 businesses and/or projects, resulting in a capital investment in rehabilitation or new construction exceeding $3.4 billion.