Fifty years ago, in 1965, Republic Act 4341 authorized the University of the Philippines to create the Institute of Planning. It was mandated to make available a pool of professional urban and regional planners to achieve the law’s policies. Among these policies was to improve human settlements through the integration of social, economic, physical, and administrative considerations to produce comprehensive development plans. As it evolved through its first 50 years, the Institute had undergone several re-baptismal rites to emerge as the present School of Urban and Regional Planning. In its precedent-setting journey, it has been supported by several partners who have helped make the profession relevant to the country’s development efforts. Two of these are the Philippine Institute of Environmental Planning and the Board of Environmental Planners. The former has provided a venue for sharing experience in planning practice; while the latter has, through its statutory functions, regulated practice within the high standards legislatively prescribed. From these local partnerships, the School has forged others which carried its programs and concerns beyond the country’s shores. The first fifty years of the School of Urban and Regional Planning have provided a strong historical foundation and have prepared it for moving towards a golden era.