Richard Baron

RICHARD BARON is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of McCormack Baron & Associates in St. Louis, Missouri, a firm specializing in the development and management of mixed-income housing with an emphasis on large-scale redevelopment projects in central city locations. The firm has developed 84 projects in 24 cities with development costs in excess of $1 billion.

McCormack Baron worked closely with former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros and his staff to design the Hope VI program, and is currently involved in twelve Hope VI projects nationally. Mr. Baron is the founder and developer of the Center of Contemporary Arts in University City, Missouri, a community-based visual and performing arts center that serves more than 50,000 children annually. Mr. Baron currently serves as the co-chairman of the Vashon Education Compact, which has targeted 10 low-performing schools in the City of St. Louis for major transformation.

He is a member of the Board of Trustees of St. Louis University and the Advisory Board for the Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy of The Brookings Institution. He is a past-member of the Board of Trustees for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Mr. Baron has been awarded honorary degrees from Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio and from St. Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri.