Mark Swilling was co-founder, former Director and Professor of the Graduate School of Public and Development Management (P&DM), in the faculty of Management at University of the Witwatersrand, 1993-1997, that trained post-apartheid civil servants. Prior to joining the Graduate School of Public and Development, Professor Swilling worked for PLANACT - an urban development NGO which he helped established in 1985. Mark Swilling also helped establish the Metropolitan Chamber that negotiated an entirely new urban system for the greater Johannesburg metropolitan area.