The Chaddick Institute relies heavily on advisors and fellows to support its programs. Below is background on these contributors. Email chaddick@depaul.edu for contact information.
Brian Antolin
Intercity Bus & Emerging Mobility Advisor
Brian is a key part of Chaddick’s intercity bus research agenda. He is the author of our “The Evolution of New York - Washington DC Intercity Bus Service” report and co-author of other publications. A consultant and researcher following his childhood love of travel and transportation, Brian focuses on North American intercity and regional travel and emerging mobility technologies. He has been quoted in the Boston Globe, Philadelphia Inquirer, New York Times, and affiliates of National Public Radio. Brian’s business ventures include Metrolane, a first/last mile mobility service for intercity travel, CoTo Travel, a student & leisure tour service, and FleetMotum, a transportation consultancy. Brian started his career at BoltBus, a division of Greyhound Lines.
Derick Anderson
Fellow
Derick is an urban research specialist who explores how community is developed, maintained, and destroyed in affordable and public housing developments. He is a PhD candidate in Urban Planning and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a researcher for the UIC Voorhees Center. He previously worked in housing counseling and managed community development programs in Chicago for a decade. Derick has an MPA from DePaul University and was a 2012 Chaddick Scholar.
Erik Cempel, PE, PMP
Transportation Policy Advisor
Erik Cempel assists local, national, and international organizations in both planning and implementing transportation infrastructure and policy through his own consulting firm, Cempel International Transportation Consulting. Erik previously served as Amtrak's Program Manager for the implementation of the $1 billion Chicago Union Station Master Plan. Before his time at Amtrak and for most of his career, he was a Principal at Cambridge Systematics, where he led transportation studies worldwide and served as regional manager for the central United States. Erik also worked for two years as a researcher at the Korea Transport Institute and regularly shares his transportation and global experience as a guest lecturer at DePaul University. Erik graduated from Cornell University with a Master's degree in Transportation Systems and a minor in Urban Planning.
Andy Cross, AICP
Program Advisor
Andy, a Senior Planner at Lakota Group, has nearly 20 years of experience as a municipal planner, including positions in a suburb of the Twin Cities and in Highland Park, Illinois. Working with preservation, architecture, and plan commissions, and city councils, he has shaped local policy and helped citizen planners and preservationists achieve local success. Recognizing the power of partnerships, Andy has helped the development community navigate the local regulatory environment to realize their vision while making a positive impact on the built environment and on the community as a whole. Andy is active in the American Planning Association (APA)’s Illinois Chapter. For Chaddick, he speaks with graduate courses and assists the Municipal Design Review Network. Andy is also active in APA’s Plan Commissioner Training Program.
Abby Mader
Postgraduate Fellow
Abby is a recent graduate student of the Sustainable Urban Development Program at DePaul. She joined our university after earning her bachelor’s degree in environmental sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. As an undergraduate, Abby worked as an environmental science researcher and developed critical-thinking skills for making metropolitan areas more sustainable. In addition to her master's degree, Abby is pursuing a certificate in Geographic Information Systems. Abby enjoys spending time outdoors, including hiking, and has a passion for nature. Abby currently works in Wisconsin in the urban & regional planning sectors.
Patrick Steffes
Urban Program Advisor and Community Fellow
Patrick is an expert on Chicago's cityscape and development history who has collaborated with the Chaddick Institute since the “Terminal Town" festival of events in 2014. Patrick holds bachelor’s degrees in both Communications and History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Since 2014, he has been an Editor for Forgotten Chicago, an organization that researches and explores Chicagoland's overlooked built environment and infrastructure. Patrick has served on the Editorial Advisory Board of Art Deco Chicago: Designing Modern America, a book published by the Chicago Art Deco Society in 2018. Known by many for his insightful Forgotten Chicago tours, he has also collaborated on programs with the Society for Industrial Archeology, AIA Chicago, Preservation Chicago, and other organizations.
Chris Kopp, AICP CTP
Senior Research Advisor
Chris manages HNTB’s Chicago transportation planning practice, which provides project feasibility assessments and services related to public transportation agencies across the country. His work integrates concepts across a wide range of disciplines, including travel market analysis, transportation system planning, financial and economic analysis, and urban design. He specializes in developing sophisticated financial analysis tools for capital program planning, transit and intercity rail network design, integration of traditional transit with shared mobility services, and planning for autonomous vehicles. He draws upon this experience to support Chaddick Institute research on urban transportation and transportation network companies such as Lyft and Uber and helps plan its Transportation Research Forum programs.
John Hedrick, JD
Municipal Design Review Program Advisor
John Hedrick is the founder and Chair of Scenic Illinois, which supports public land-use, planning, and design. He also organized the Municipal Design Review Network (MDRN) for the Chaddick Institute, which focuses on municipal design review practices. A licensed attorney for over 30 years, Mr. Hedrick specialized in advertising, corporate, and regulatory matters. He has also served on various municipal planning committees, including as Village Commissioner for building and landscape design review. Currently, Mr. Hedrick is Chair of the Glenview Appearance Commission and has recently served on the village's special facade improvement and comprehensive planning committees. In his latest legal work, John specialized in board planning and organizational issues.
Deborah Carter McCoy
Sustainability and Communications Advisor
Deborah's expertise lies where the natural, built, and human environments intersect. With experience in sustainability, transportation, and major infrastructure projects, Deborah has successfully led communications that have delivered documented benefits in creativity, reach, and voice. She is the director of strategic communications for the Environmental Initiative, the Midwest Row Crop Collaborative, and the Sustainable Growth Coalition. She created and led campaigns, long-term planning projects, and social media strategy, including an award-winning campaign for Union Depot in St. Paul, Minn. An award-winning web content developer, she is leading her third organizational website redesign. Exposure to her parents’ civic engagement in early childhood shaped her lifelong passion for volunteering and acting for equity. She actively supports Chaddick’s student learning activities.
Susan Aaron
Civic Program Design
Susan Aaron's work for Chaddick has involved a wide variety of projects. She was a contributing author to "The Plan of Chicago @ 100: 15 Views of Burnham's Legacy for a New Century" and is the 2009 recipient of Lambda Alpha International and Chapter awards. She was an appointed member of the Burnham Plan Centennial Committee and was a primary leader of The Plan of Chicago Centennial Initiative, celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the 1909 Plan of Chicago. Susan also served as Executive Director of the Grant Park Cultural & Educational Community. As a program coordinator for Navy Pier for the City’s Department of Public Works during Navy Pier's early years of redevelopment, she was responsible for public programming, public relations, leases, and working with real estate research consultants. During the 1976 U.S. Bicentennial, Ms. Aaron served as Director of Art and Historical Exhibitions at Navy Pier for the Chicago Association of Commerce and Industry.
Dudley Onderdonk, FAICP, LEED-AP, CNU-
Municipal Planning Advisor
Dudley has 40 years of experience in urban planning and management as well as community and economic development. His career includes managing community development departments in suburban Chicago, including Park Forest, Oak Park, and Gurnee, and serving as a planner in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Los Angeles. The author of several papers and articles, Dudley also serves as an elected Glencoe Park District Commissioner and Plan Commissioner of the Village of Glencoe. He holds master’s degrees from the Ohio State University in urban planning and environmental science and teaches part-time at local universities.
Carrie Craig
Research Advisor
Carrie supports the Institute’s transportation and urban policy research agenda. She is a former Research Associate at the Woodstock Institute, where she conducted research and analysis focused on advancing economic justice and racial equity in U.S. financial systems. Previously, Carrie was a research assistant with the Chaddick Institute, working on analyzing U.S. transportation and Chicago-area housing issues, and was named a 2022 Chaddick Scholar. Before DePaul, she was a youth and community development volunteer with the Peace Corps in Morocco. Additionally, she advocated for federally subsidized tenants and was active in community development and affordable housing policy in San Francisco. Carrie has a bachelor’s in political science from San Francisco State University and a master’s in public policy from DePaul.
Other Contributors
Blythe Chesney, a graduate of DePaul’s Sustainable Urban Development, manages the Talking Transportation Podcast. Arlinda Bajrami, a public affairs and energy specialist and graduate of DePaul’s Master in Public Administration, serves as an alumni advisor.