Most people do not realize that: After procreation, planning is the most important human activity. It is an innate requirement for human existence. It is practiced continuously automatically or deliberately, successfully or unsuccessfully by individuals, governments, businesses, and the military services. This holistic and realistic view of planning, initially propounded by Dr. Branch, evolved from his diverse experiences and research. He has reported and discussed in various publications the different aspects and applications of planning involved in his work.We are a species endangered not only by nature but also by our own behavior. Our prospects as individuals and societies depend in large part on how well we plan. Major accomplishments in planning are necessary if America is to prosper and survive as the kind of society we cherish today. These include specific achievements in information and communication, governance, education, human deportment, our treatment of the natural environment as it affects us. Advances in science will continue to profoundly influence the thoughts and actions of humankind. Melville C. Branch is Distinguished Professor of Planning Emeritus at the University of Southern California. He has been a pioneer in the field, instrumental in establishing the Bureau of Urban Research at Princeton University, the Graduate Program of Education and Research in Planning at the University of Chicago, and the School of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Southern California. For almost a decade he was a member of the Los Angeles City Planning Commission. In 1986, he received the National Distinguished Leadership Award of the American Planning Association, in 1992 he was designated Distinguished Planning Educator by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, and in 2000 he was elected a Fellow in the American Institute of Certified Planners. He was the first person to receive an advanced degree in planning (Ph.D., regional planning, Harvard, 1949).