Following an extensive search process, the School of City & Regional Planning has selected Dr. Anna Joo Kim to join the School's faculty as an Assistant Professor in Community and Economic Development and Tim Welch to join the School's faculty as an Assistant Professor in Transportation Planning and as the Assistant Director at the Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development.

Chairperson Bruce Stiftel writes that, “Anna Kim will expand Georgia Tech’s capabilities in economic development markedly, giving us direct skills in labor market analysis, and opening up possibilities for various areas of work related to the immigrant experience in the workplace.   We are excited to expand our community and economic development group with an exciting young teacher.”

Dr. Kim is currently the Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at Pomona College in California. A graduate of UCLA’s urban planning Ph.D. program with a B.A. in women’s studies and history from Claremont McKenna College and an M.A. in ethnic studies from the University of California-San Diego, Kim’s research is focused on immigrant participation in the informal economy and related issues of labor markets and economic and community development. An acclaimed young teacher at Pomona College, Kim will teach community development and economic development courses at Georgia Tech.

“Tim Welch will join the researchers at Georgia Tech investigating avenues to respond to the climate change," writes Stiftel. "Welsh challenges us to change transportation system design to lead to urban form that has lower carbon impact.   His work will advance the agenda of Tech’s National Center for Transportation Productivity and Management and will no doubt be the basis for innovations in city planning practice in the critical years ahead.”

Mr. Welch is a doctoral candidate in urban and regional planning and research assistant in the National Center for Smart Growth at the University of Maryland at College Park. He has a B.A. in finance from Washington State University, LL.B. from University of Windsor, J.D. from University of Detroit-Mercy, and a Master’s degree in urban and regional planning from Florida State University. Welch’s research is focused on reducing carbon emissions from transportation, and vehicle miles travelled reduction strategies. He will teach transportation planning and related courses at Georgia Tech.