A symposium Sept. 14 and 15 on campus will honor John W. Reps, Cornell University professor emeritus in the Department of City and Regional Planning, as he approaches his 80th birthday. Reps was called the father of American planning history by the American Institute of Certified Planners in 1996.

Reps himself will kick off the symposium with a lecture Friday, Sept. 14, at 4 p.m. in 157 E. Sibley Hall titled "The Inside Story on the New York City Commissioner's Plan of 1811, or How Gotham Got Its Grid." The talk is free and open to the public. The Saturday symposium that follows in Barnes Hall auditorium is open to students at a reduced registration fee of $25 and to community members at $45.

A seminal book by Reps, The Making of Urban America , published in 1965, established his reputation as a national planning pioneer and was reprinted twice, most recently in 1998. Another book, Cities of the American West, won him the Beveridge Prize of the American Historical Association in 1980. The symposium will explore his contributions to planning history and education.

Reps has been associated with the Cornell College of Architecture, Art and Planning's Department of City and Regional Planning for more than 50 years. He earned a master's degree in regional planning in 1947, taught city and regional planning from 1952 to 1987 and chaired the department from 1952 to 1964. He also was director of planning for Broome County, N.Y., for three years and served on the Ithaca planning board for several years. He currently is working on a study of planning in 13th century southwestern France.

The Saturday symposium includes presentations by urban historians and Cornell alumni, including: Eugenie Birch, University of Pennsylvania, "The Downtown According to John Reps"; Jeffrey Cody, Chinese University of Hong Kong, "Boulevards in the China Shop: Paris Meets California in Southern China, 1912-1932"; Larry Gerckens, Ohio State University, "It Is the Turn of the Century ... Again"; Kevin Harrington, Illinois Institute of Technology, "The Persistence of the Grid: From Jefferson's Afterthought to Hilberseimer's Revenge"; Kristen Larsen, University of Florida, "Creating the Future: Clarence Stein's Influence on and Participation in Early Federal Housing."; and David Schuyler, Franklin and Marshall University, "How Gotham's Grid Frustrated Later Generations of Planners."

The event, which concludes with a dinner in Willard Straight Hall's Memorial Room Saturday evening (cost: is $50; $45 for those registered for the Saturday symposium), is sponsored by Cornell's College of Architecture, Art and Planning and its Department of City and Regional Planning and the Clarence Stein Institute for Urban and Landscape Studies. For more information and to register, visit the web site http://www.crp.cornell.edu/reps/ or call (607) 255-4331.