Distinctions

• Georgia Tech was designated as the lead partner in a consortium of universities forming one of ten national Tier One University Transportation Centers by the US Department of Transportation in January. The School’s Dr. Catherine Ross, director of the Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development, is one of the leaders of the UTC project team. The UTC, which will be called the National Center for Transportation Productivity and Management, will use a $7 million grant from US DOT and state funding partners to conduct cutting-edge transportation policy research.
• Two members of the SCaRP community, Professor of the Practice Mike Dobbins, AICP, and Duluth, Georgia Planning Director Glenn Coyne, AICP (MCP ’87), were inducted as Fellows of AICP at the 2012 American Planning Association (APA) national conference.
• Professors Subro Guhathakurta and Nancey Green Leigh have begun serving terms as editors of the Journal of Planning Education and Research.

Books Published

• Assistant Professor Harley Etienne published Pushing Back the Gates: Neighborhood Perspectives on University-Driven Revitalization in West Philadelphia, released in April by Temple University Press.
• Also in April, Associate Professor Brian Stone published The City and the Coming Climate: Climate Change in the Places We Live, released by Cambridge University Press.

Student Achievements

• Rati Akash (MCRP ’11), Zachary Adriaenssens (MCRP ’11), Kia Ball  (MCRP ’11), Leslie Caceda (MCRP ’11), Carlos Campo  (MCRP ’11), Chris Faulkner (MCRP ’11), Carolyn Knabel (MCRP ’11), Jenna E. Lee (MCRP ’11), Moki Macías (MCRP ’11), Drew Murray (MCRP ’11), Susan Prater (MCRP ’11), Neela Ram (MCRP/MSPP ’10), Ruma Ram (MCRP ’11), Andrea Rattray (MCRP ’11), and Stephanie Wansley (MCRP ’11) received a 2012 APA National Student Project Award for their work on the Fall 2010 Fort McPherson studio led by Professor of the Practice Mike Dobbins.
• Jessica Florez (MSUD), Ryan Hagerty (MCRP '12), Logan Tuura (M.Arch/MCRP), Christina Span (MCRP/MSPP), Audrey Plummer (M.Arch/MCRP) received an Honorable Mention in the 2012 Urban Land Institute Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition for “Artesano,” a proposed redevelopment plan for a neighborhood in Houston.
• 2012 graduate Chris Silveira (MCRP/MSCE) was selected for the Eno Fellowship to attend a conference in public service and transportation.
• PhD student Nathanael Hoelzel served on the steering committee for the “Reimagining a More Sustainable Cleveland” plan, which received an APA 2012 National Planning Excellence Award for Innovation in Sustaining Places.

Alumni Achievements

• Flávio Villaca (MCP ’58) was appointed Professor Emeritus at Brazil’s University of Sao Paulo in the School of Architecture and Urban Planning.
• Ryan Gravel (MCP ’98) and Professor of the Practice David Green were part of a team presented with a 2012 Donald E Hunter Excellence in economic Development Planning Award by the APA for their work with the University of Florida on Gainesville’s Innovation Square Project.
• James Wagner (MCRP ’09) was part of a team presented with a 2012 National Planning Excellence Award by the APA for work with the Indian Nations Council of Governments.

Comings and Goings

• The School would like to welcome Associate Professor Nisha Botchwey, who joined the faculty in January.
• David Lee, Ph.D., joined the Center for Quality Growth as a research scientist in January.
• In May Kenya Wilson joined the staff of the National Center for Transportation Productivity and Management.
• The School would also like to bid a fond farewell to Assistant Professor Harley Etienne, who is joining the University of Michigan as an Assistent Professor after five years at Georgia Tech.