The Bloustein School is saddened to announce the passing of Salah S. El-Shakhs, 90, Distinguished Professor and Planning & Policy Development Coordinator Emeritus, Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program, on July 17, 2025.
Salah El-Shakhs and Bloustein Dean Emeritus James W. Hughes at an event celebrating retired Bloustein School faculty in November, 2023.
Dr. El-Shakhs joined the Rutgers faculty of Urban Planning and Policy Development in 1969, after previously serving as a faculty member at Alexandria University (Alexandria, Egypt), Ain Shams University (Cairo, Egypt), and Cairo University (Cairo, Egypt) for several years. His research interests included the development of systems of cities, town planning and design, and regional and national development in developing countries.
“Salah was a true scholar in international planning and was a pioneer in the field,” said Distinguished Professor and Bloustein School Dean Emeritus James W. Hughes. “And he established the key foundations for what would become the Bloustein School. He was a good friend and mentor for one-half of a century.”
The Department of Urban Planning and Policy Development (UPPD) was created at Rutgers in 1967, and Dr. El-Shakhs was one of the founding faculty members. During this time he served as the director of Middle Eastern Studies Program (1973-1982), Chair of the Department of Urban Studies (1977-1981), and Founding Director of the School of Urban and Regional Policy (predecessor to the Bloustein School) from 1981-86.
As one of the original UPPD faculty members of what eventually became the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Dr. El-Shakhs and his colleagues noted that “UPPD’s mission was forged in the tempestuous cauldron of the late 1960s’ urban unrest and the desire to address, through research and service, the inequalities underlying it.”
“Salah is a critical figure in the history of the Bloustein School. He touched many people, including colleagues, staff, and especially students. The Bloustein community will miss him greatly,” said Bloustein School Dean Stuart Shapiro.
Following the founding of the Bloustein School, he served as Coordinator of the school’s Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship program from 1992-2006, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and administered by the Institute of International Education. In this role, he oversaw the professional development and training of mid-career public service professionals from developing nations and Eastern Europe.
His extensive professional experience also includes serving as the Director of General Planning for Greater Cairo, and as a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee on National Housing Strategies in Egypt. He acted as a consultant to the United Nations, US AID, Canadian IDRC, David A. Crane (Philadelphia), Italconsult (Rome), Dar Al Handassah (Beirut), Sabbour Associates (Cairo), the Abu Dhabi planning department, and King Khaled University (Saudi Arabia), among others. He was the principal planner for Sadat City, Beverly Hills Cairo, and El-Shams City in Egypt, and participated in the development of national settlement systems in Libya and Northern Nigeria.
Dr. El-Shakhs was also a Senior Fulbright Research Scholar in Egypt, and presented his research at the UN University (Tokyo), UN Fund for Population Activities (Barcelona), Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (Rattvik), East-West Center (Honolulu), The Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center (Italy), and the Kharagpur Institute of Technology (India), among others. His publications included The Development of Systems of Cities, Regional Development in Developing Countries, Urbanization in the Arab Countries and the Muslim World, and The Role of Traditionalism in the Modernization Process.
Dr. El-Shakhs earned his Master of City Planning and Ph.D. in Regional Planning from Harvard and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from Cairo University. He was the recipient of the Presidential Award for Distinguished Public Service from Rutgers in 1986. He retired from teaching in December 2005.
Prayer was held at the Islamic Society of Central Jersey in Monmouth Junction, NJ on July 18 followed by private burial. A public celebration of life will be announced and held by his family at a later date.