Henry Webber

Biography

Henry (Hank) Webber is the founder and Managing Principal of Urban Impact Advisors, a national consulting firm that works in higher education, innovation districts and community and economic development. He is a nationally
recognized higher education and community and economic development leader. For the past 35 years, he has made major contributions to Chicago and St Louis and helped lead the University of Chicago and Washington University in St Louis, two of America’s largest and finest research universities.

Recent Work

From 2008 until the end of 2021, Webber served as Executive Vice Chancellor at Washington University in St. Louis. He was the University’s Chief Administrative Officer through 2020, overseeing a wide variety of administrative and external affairs functions including on and off campus University real estate and facilities, human resources, University operations, public affairs, information technology and security with combined operating and capital budgets of over $500M annually and over 1600 University and contracted staff. In 2020 he became Washington University’s Executive Vice Chancellor for Civic Affairs and Strategic Planning, and led a university-wide effort to strengthen the University as a teaching, research and patient care leader while making the St Louis region stronger and more equitable.

Washington University

At Washington University, Webber led over $2 billion in capital projects including the complete redesign of the East End of the Danforth Campus. Projects under his direction consistently received local, state and national awards. In 2018 and 2019, Washington University was named the best campus in the United States by Niche.com. He also contributed significantly to the revitalization of the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood and the Delmar Loop, and led sustainability programs that allowed the University to add six million square feet of space while reducing energy
use and greenhouse gas emissions. Recently, the University was selected by Forbes as the best place to work in Missouri. Webber co-led, with the Provost and Chief Financial Officer, the University’s annual budgeting process, championed the creation of the Academy for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and was one of the founders of Arch to Park, a $190M equity fund dedicated to promoting inclusive growth in the City of St Louis.

Particularly notable was Webber’s leadership of the Cortex Innovation Community. Webber was the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of Cortex from 2010 until 2016 and Chair from 2017 to 2021. During his tenure, Cortex, a 200-acre urban technology redevelopment district in the core city of St Louis, grew from 1,000 jobs and under 100 companies to 6,200 jobs and over 425 companies. Cortex is internationally recognized as a model of anchor-led inclusive economic growth.

Past Experience

Before coming to Washington University in 2008, Webber spent 22 years at the University of Chicago. For the last eleven years he served as Vice President for Community and Government affairs and also led off-campus real estate. He co-led the development of the Urban Education Initiative, a nationally-recognized university-sponsored program of engagement in public education, including development of charter schools which served over 2,000 students, professional development, teacher training, applied research and new scholarship and enrichment programs. Other achievements include working with the City of Chicago, local leaders and others to supporting the successful redevelopment of the North Kenwood/Oakland and Woodlawn neighborhoods and 53 Street retail district, restoring the Midway Plaisance as a great urban park and creating the largest Employee Housing Assistance Program in the state of Illinois. During his tenure, the University of Chicago was identified as having among the dozen strongest community impact programs of any university in the nation.

In addition to his administrative role, Webber has been on the faculty at Washington University and the University of Chicago since 1998, most recently serving as Professor of Practice. He teaches courses in American public policy, community development, American cities and sustainable urbanism and writes widely on segregation, inclusive urban development. and the role of anchor institutions in American cities. He is currently leading a long-term study on the comparative performance of Midwestern cities and regions on measures of growth and equity. In 2018, Facing Segregation: Housing Policy Solutions for a Stronger Society, a book he co-edited with Molly Metzger, was published by Oxford University Press. His current project is a book on how post-industrial cities in United States can create and sustain inclusive growth.

In December of 2021, Mr. Webber retired from Washington University and formed Urban Impact Advisors. He is now serving as a senior advisor to Ancora Real Estate, provides strategic advice to leading research universities and is a national consultant on community development, campus growth and innovation districts.

Mr. Webber is Chair of the Board of Directors of Invest STL, the St. Louis region’s community development effort and serves on the Boards of Directors of St Louis Shakespeare Festival, RISE, The Delmar Divine Charitable Foundation, the St Louis Public School Foundation, Park Central Development Corporation, Provident Behaviorial Health and Forest Park Forever. He chairs the Design Oversight Committee for the Brickline Greenway, a major civic effort to connect the city of St. Louis and promote inclusive growth.

In addition, Webber was the long-time board chair of the Cortex Innovation District, one of America's leading innovation districts, and has been a long-time leader in regional and neighborhood community development with particular expertise in how anchor institutions can positively contribute to their communities.  

Mr. Webber has a Master's degree in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts with Honors from Brown University.