So where do we go for leadership and smarts and the fullest understanding of Baltimore historic nuance now that Bob Embry’s walking out the door at the Abell Foundation?
Nobody’s irreplaceable, but Embry’s pretty close.
Without a lot of fanfare, he’s been the brains and the moving force behind some of Baltimore’s grandest triumphs, from the dawning of the William Donald Schaefer mayoral renaissance years to the education of a young Brandon Scott.
But over the weekend, Embry announced he’s retiring as president of the Abell Foundation after 38 years of annually funding millions of dollars that attempt to level the playing field between the poor and everybody else.
He’s 87, still sharp, still energetic. But “it’s time,” says Embry.
But old friend Kalman “Buzzy” Hettleman called the announcement “a thunderbolt” in a weekend email.
Hettleman, an education policy analyst and former city school board member and deputy mayor for education, called Embry’s career “the stuff of legends.”
His years at the Abell Foundation are only the capstone of a career dedicated to public service. There were his years on the City Council, years when he was president of the city and state boards of education, the years as President Jimmy Carter’s assistant U.S. Housing and Urban Development secretary.
Carter brought Embry to Washington after his time heading Baltimore’s housing department. But for Embry, housing was just the heart of that job.
His handprints were all over a variety of projects. There was the transformation of the Inner Harbor from rotting piers to Harborplace, which breathed new life across downtown for several decades.
There was the Mechanic Theatre rebirth, which brought Broadway glamour to a city that always suffered from a sense of municipal drabness.
There were neighborhoods like Coldspring, and school projects. And there were nearly two decades of an annual Baltimore City Fair which helped lift a post-riot shadow from downtown Baltimore.
As former Senator Barbara Mikulski told The Sun, “Bob has really been one of the great social architects. … He’s always had great ideas and practical solutions to very complex problems.”
Embry’s leaving the Abell Foundation, which dispenses millions annually. But he says he’ll continue working. He’s an attorney. Over the weekend, he mentioned working for “some non-profit that needs a lawyer.”
For the past half-century, Baltimore has had a great one in Bob Embry.
A former Baltimore Sun columnist and WJZ-TV commentator, Michael Olesker is the author of six books, including “Journeys to the Heart of Baltimore” (Johns Hopkins University Press) and “Michael Olesker’s Baltimore: If You Live Here, You’re Home” (Johns Hopkins University).
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