Environmental justice expert Lucie Laurian appointed chair of urban planning at UB

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Lucie Laurian, an international expert in environmental justice and planning theory, has been appointed chair of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning in the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning. Laurian’s appointment is effective Aug. 23.

Laurian is a prolific scholar widely acclaimed for her research on environmental planning and public participation in environmental decisions related to toxic site cleanups in the U.S. and France. 

She is professor and director of the School of Planning and Public Affairs at the University of Iowa, where she has served on the faculty for nearly 20 years.

She holds a PhD in city and regional planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and earned her master’s in sociology and demography in Paris, France.

Her research on urban planning spans the evaluation, implementation and outcomes of sustainability plans, the organizational determinants of implementation, and the linkages between elected officials’ campaigns and their support for environmental planning strategies.

More recently, she has conducted research on urban forestry, the role of trust in planning, and the treatment of time in planning research and practice. Her scholarship has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the New Zealand Foundation for Science, Research and Technology.

Laurian says she was drawn to UB for its prominence in research and the urban planning program’s collaborative pursuit of teaching, scholarship and community engagement in building sustainable and equitable communities.  

“I decided to join the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at UB because it is a center of excellence, with tremendous assets, opportunities and potential. Urban planning education and research is about adapting to global and regional shifts to promote sustainable, equitable, just and resilient places, economies, institutions, communities, cities and regions. UB’s urban planning faculty, staff and students make these changes thoughtfully, proactively and together,” says Laurian, who takes over the post from Emmanuel Frimpong Boamah, PhD, UB associate professor of urban planning and interim chair since June 2022.

“I look forward to leading this ongoing process, in conjunction with UB’s architecture program and with the new dean of the School of Architecture and Planning,” she added, referring to the recent appointment of landscape architect and leading design thinker Julia Czerniak, a professor of architecture at Syracuse University, as the school’s incoming dean.

Laurian is the review article editor for the journal Planning Theory and associate editor of the Journal of the American Planning Association, and is a member of the editorial boards of several other journals, including LAND, the Journal of Planning Education and Research, Town Planning Review, and the Journal of Environmental Planning & Management. 

As an administrator of an R1 institution in the Association of American Universities (AAU), of which UB is also a member, Laurian brings to UB expertise in faculty mentoring for tenure and promotion, improving the department’s reputation among AAU universities in research and grant productivity, curriculum innovation and student success, staff satisfaction and development, and a culture of care and organizational health.

A champion for equity, Laurian is the former chair of the University of Iowa’s first Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice curriculum review, which supported an increase in female faculty from 10% of total faculty to 33%. Under her leadership, the University of Iowa also added undergraduate minors in urban studies and public policy, launched an online certificate in transportation planning, and established the interdisciplinary Master of Public Affairs.

UB’s international search was chaired by Frimpong Boamah with Korydon Smith, professor and chair of architecture; Samina Raja, PhD, professor of urban planning; Laura Quebral, director, UB Regional Institute; Matthew Roland, clinical assistant professor and assistant dean for real estate development; and Kate Nelischer, PhD, assistant professor of urban planning.

“The School of Architecture and Planning is thrilled to welcome nationally recognized urban planner Lucie Laurian to UB as chair of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning,” said Dean Robert G. Shibley, who will step down in September after more than 12 years at the helm of the school.

“Her experience as a scholar, educator and administrator will support the growth of and innovation across our academic and scholarly enterprise as we prepare urban planners to confront the pressing problems facing cities today,” Shibley adds. “In particular, her experience leading an R1 institution like the University of Iowa positions our program for success as UB pursues its ambition to situate itself among the Top 25 public research universities in the nation.”

The urban planning department, located in the UB’s School of Architecture and Planning, is committed to training urban planners, environmental designers and real estate developers to shape places that ensure just and equitable futures for all. It offers one of the nation’s oldest bachelor’s degrees in environmental design, as well as a Master of Urban Planning, PhD in urban and regional planning, Master of Science in Real Estate Development, Master of Science in International Development and Global Health, and additional dual/joint degree programs.

The civic orientation of UB’s planning program has generated transformative impacts across the City of Buffalo and around the world in fields such as food systems planning, global health equity, climate action planning, affordable housing and economic development for distressed neighborhoods.

The department regularly ranks among the top of its peer programs in the Association of American Universities for sponsored research activity, according to data reported by Academic Analytics.