Dr. Wayne Caldwell’s career as a consummate professional planner is far ranging – practicing planner, teacher, mentor, researcher, community activist, and leader in the profession. An astute rural planner who started his career in rural and small town planning in the 1980’s, Wayne has developed approaches to planning and development that are practiced throughout Canada today. He is nationally recognized as a champion of the well-being of rural areas – their communities, people, heritage, farmland, and sensitive resources. Wayne truly elevated the voice of rural planning within the profession. In 1992, he began teaching in Rural Planning and Development at the University of Guelph School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, becoming the Director of the department in 2011. He has taught, and mentored, numerous planners who have significantly contributed to advancing sustainable rural communities across Canada. In addition to teaching, he continued to reach out to rural communities to develop a broader understanding of rural affairs. Wayne has shared his practical knowledge of rural potentials, rural engagement, and conflict resolution, through working sessions with communities, books, publications, and conference presentations, thus becoming a nationally respected scholar, professor, and practitioner.

Wayne championed the conservation of the Lake Huron coast, as a founder of the Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation and the Huron Stewardship Council. While Chair of the Ontario Rural Council, he spearheaded commitments to build strong rural communities. Among his many contributions to professional leadership, he served as President of the Ontario Professional Planners Institute and provincial representative on the CIP National Council, as well as President of the Association of Canadian University Planning Programs.