Robert Dean

Chief Strategy and Program Officer

Bob Dean joined CNT in August 2018 as its Chief Executive Officer. 

Bob Dean joined CNT in August 2018 as its Chief Executive Officer. In January 2023, he moved to a new position as Chief Strategy and Program Officer to allow him to focus on CNT’s program work, including leveraging federal infrastructure investment for maximum impact. Prior to CNT, Bob served as the Deputy Executive Director for Planning for the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP). During his 10 years with CMAP, he created and then oversaw the Local Technical Assistance program, which has offered planning assistance to local governments across the region through over 200 local planning projects. Before initiating the LTA program, Bob managed GO TO 2040, the award-winning comprehensive plan for the Chicago metropolitan area that was adopted in October 2010. After leaving CMAP in 2017, he consulted for Chicago's Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) and RW Ventures on local governance and economic development projects during 2018.

Prior to CMAP, Bob worked in municipal government for five years, serving as a transportation and land use planner for the City of Naperville, Illinois and a transportation planning liaison for the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference.

Bob holds a master's degree in planning from Cornell University and a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Delaware. He is originally from the Philadelphia region. He currently lives in Evanston, IL with his wife, two children, two cats, and a lizard.