Margarita McCoy

Margarita McCoy (1923-2016) was a pioneering urban planner and educator. She was among the first women in the United States to achieve a tenure-track planning position and was the first woman to become a full professor of planning in the United States. She taught at Cal Poly Pomona, serving as the chair of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning from 1977-1983, and at the University of Southern California.

In 1959, McCoy began her planning career by serving on the Sudbury, MA planning board. She was a commissioner on the American Institute of Certified Planners (1979–82,1990–94) and served as its president (1981–82). She was also a director (1979–82) of the American Planning Association (APA), and was a founder of its Planning and Women Division. She was a member of the Planning Accreditation Board and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP). The ACSP established the Margarita McCoy Award which is awarded biannually by the ACSP Faculty Women's Interest Group. The award was established in order to "recognize individuals who have made an outstanding contribution toward the advancement of women in planning at institutions of higher education through service, teaching, and/or research."

She was a dedicated voice for the advancement of more women and minorities in planning schools and in the profession in general.