Peter Oakley Coltman collection

Peter Oakley Coltman was born in Johannesburg, South Africa on December 27, 1926. He married Felicity Ann Kassner, a South African classical pianist and founder and Artistic Director Emeritus of the Austin Chamber Music Center, in 1955. The Coltmans raised four children: Ann, Heather, Peter, and Margaret.

Fascinated by architecture since childhood, Coltman pursued his interest at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, earning a Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1952 and a Diploma in Town Planning in 1957. Following his undergraduate studies, Coltman spent several years teaching construction at the University of the Witwatersrand. During this time he also worked for the National Building Research Institute and the South African National Tuberculosis Association in South Africa, as well as the African Housing Board in Zambia.

In 1961, Coltman enrolled in the Master of Science in Community and Regional Planning (MSCRP) program at The University of Texas at Austin (UT). Felicity Coltman and their son, Peter, joined him in 1962, while daughters Ann and Heather stayed in South Africa with other family members. Coltman completed his MSCRP degree in 1965 and was hired as an assistant professor by the University of Kansas in 1966.

In July 1968, Coltman returned to Austin with his family after accepting the position of Associate Professor in the Community and Regional Planning (CRP) program at UT's School of Architecture (SOA). Coltman served as graduate adviser for the CRP from 1969 until 1971, when he took a one-year leave from the SOA to teach at Leicester Polytechnic (now De Montfort University) in England. During his time abroad, Coltman also studied the development of the New Towns Movement for post-WWII planned communities in Great Britain.

Coltman earned a Certificate in Environmental Planning from the University of Manchester in 1973 and became a chartered member of the Royal Town Planning Institute. At the same time, he registered as an architect with the Royal Institute of British Architects. In the United States, he was an Associate Member of The American Institute of Architects, and from 1974 to 1986 served as a member of the National American Institute of Architects Committee on Regional Development and Natural Resources.

Throughout his twenty-seven year tenure at the SOA, Coltman worked to establish interdisciplinary relationships between the CRP and the school's seven other programs of study. Moreover, he consulted on several local development projects in communities across Texas. Coltman's professional interest in the impact of human culture on the natural environment fueled his commitment to the environmentalist movement. Not surprisingly, his personal interests included camping and hiking, traveling, gardening, recycling, and composting. Upon retiring from UT in 1995, Coltman was granted the status of Associate Professor Emeritus in the SOA.

Coltman died at his home in Austin on July 3, 2012. UT memorialized him with the planting of a Mexican Plum tree near Sutton Hall. In addition, Coltman's family members established the Peter O. Coltman Book Prize in Architecture and Planning at The University of Texas at Austin. The award recognizes outstanding student achievement at the SOA.

Partially based upon "In Memoriam: Peter Oakley Coltman," University of Texas, Index of Memorial Resolutions and Biographical Sketches, https://utexas.app.box.com/s/emi5y6vqcfzoqsr4uojxq8x44f1yphdc/file/332037076962 [accessed February 9, 2015]