Darrell Higginbottom

City of Boston Fire Department

Master of Urban Affairs 15 ‘

I appreciate the City Planning and Urban Affairs program because it requires students to develop actionable solutions to real world problems. The professors are diverse in their academic and professional fields of expertise. They challenge students to combine theory with practice to develop urban policies that address primary areas of concern like social justice, economic security, and environmental protection.

As a Captain within the Boston Fire Department and the Vice-President of a community based non-profit organization, Darrell Higginbottom is constantly confronting major urban problems where policy formulation and implementation are paramount. He feels that his Master of Urban Affairs degree prepared him to research, analyze, and develop actionable policy solutions to these problems in his daily work, and that the program exposed him to professionals’ and industry leaders’ experiences and challenges that influence the way he manages in the urban environment of Boston. His professional interests include municipal governance, emergency preparedness, social equity, and economic development.