PLANETIZEN COURSES - Key Persons
Professor Alan Weinstein holds a joint faculty appointment at Cleveland State University's Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs. Prior to his appointment at Cleveland State, he taught at the University of Wisconsin School of Architecture & Urban Planning, the Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center at Touro College, and Wayne State University Law School. Professor Weinstein is a nationally-recognized expert on planning law who has extensive practice and research experience with land use regulation and development. He is the author of more than seventy-five journal articles and is co-author, with Brian Blaesser, Esq., of Federal Land Use Law & Litigation, a one-volume treatise published annually by Thomson Reuters.
Chris is an independent contractor with a variety of analytical and communication skills gained from 40 years in academia, public and private sector planning and environmental analysis, and local to national level applied demography. He teaches Demography at Cal State University, Channel Islands with a focus on Census 2020 and recent changes in California Regional Housing Needs Assessment law. He was a Fulbright Scholar and Adjunct Associate Research Professor of Geography and Planning at the University of Southern California where he consulted to a wide range of governments and clients. Chris has nearly 20 years direct experience as a staff city planner in the coastal cities of Oxnard and Long Beach working with General Plan, housing elements, local coastal programs, entitlement and build out of large mixed use specific plans, stopping and removing coastal power plants, and preparing for Census 2000 and Census 2010. Chris's 20 years of university teaching and research helps him communicate complex topics to decision makers and the public in a casual persuasive manner. Chris holds a PhD from the University of Southern California, a Master of Planning from the University of Virginia, and a BS in Geography from Penn State.
Daniel K. Slone is a partner of McGuireWoods LLP in Richmond, VA. Dan assists innovative clients in designing and implementing their projects. He helps to create the right entities, put together the appropriate strategies, overcome impediments, and put together effective contracts for the new types of relationships they create including for green businesses and developers, localities, professionals, and non-profit organizations. He has been a member of the Board of Directors for the Congress for the New Urbanism since 2011 and was a Charter Member, General Council from 1992-2010. Dan is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School and the Birmingham Southern College with BA Degrees in Philosophy and Political Science. He co-authored A Legal Guide to Urban and Sustainable Development for Architects, Planners and Developers with Doris Goldstein (John Wiley & Sons, September 2008). He is the Recipient of the Henry David Thoreau Environmental Conservator, Better Housing Coalition 2010 Groundbreaker Award and Special Recognition for Service Award fropm the Virginia Sustainable Building Network in 2006.
Job Titles:
- Fellow at Harvard Divinity School
Dr. Álvaro Huerta is a Religion and Public Life Organizing Fellow at Harvard Divinity School. He's also an Associate Professor in Urban & Region Planning and Ethnic & Women's Studies at Cal Poly Pomona. He's the author of an award-winning book, Defending Latina/o Immigrant Communities: The Xenophobic Era of Trump and Beyond, among other publications. As a son of Mexican immigrants, he's a former resident of public housing projects in East Los Angeles. The recipient of a Ford Foundation Fellowship and other awards, he holds a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from UC Berkeley. He also holds an M.A. in Urban Planning and a B.A. in History from UCLA.
Eric Damian Kelly is a lawyer and planner with more than 35 years of experience working with local governments on issues in planning and land-use regulation. He holds Juris Doctor and Master of City Planning degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in Public Policy from The Union Institute. He is a Professor of Urban Planning at Ball State University. Since 1995, he has served as General Editor of Matthew Bender's 10-volume treatise, Zoning and Land Use Controls. He is the author of two books, seven Planning Advisory Service Reports and multiple articles and book chapters. He has consulted with more than 150 local governments in more than 35 states. Much of the focus of his more recent practice has been on the intersection of land-use controls and the First Amendment. Eric is a past president of the American Planning Association and was named to the first class of Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners in 1999. He is also a member of the American Bar Association and is licensed to practice law in Colorado.
Geoffrey is one of the originators of the modern practice of Form-Based Codes. His work ranges from site-specific urban designs to zoning-toolkits to replace Euclidean zones - development regulations that emphasize clarity for end-users.
His experience with adopted municipal form-based codes goes back to 1991 with the Metropolitan Dade County Traditional Neighborhood Ordinance, and his experience includes the master plan & form-based code (with Dover Kohl & Partners) for the redevelopment of the Columbia Pike Corridor in Arlington, Virginia. His firm's Form-Based Codes for the Farmers Branch, Texas, Station Area and Heart of Peoria Form-Districts in Peoria, Illinois, received the Richard Driehaus Form-Based Code Award in 2007 and 2010, respectively.
Job Titles:
- Managing Editor
- Writer and Editor
James Brasuell is a writer and editor, producing web, print, and video content on the subjects of planning, urbanism, and mobility. James has managed all editorial content and direction for Planetizen since 2014. After a first career as a class five white water river guide in Trinity County in Northern California, James started his career in Los Angeles as a volunteer at a risk reduction center in Skid Row. Prior to joining Planetizen, James worked at the Cal Poly Pomona College of Environmental Design, as an editor at Curbed LA, as editor of The Planning Report, and as a freelance contributor for The Architect's Newspaper, the Urban Land Institute - Los Angeles Chapter, FORM, KCET, and the California Planning & Development Report.
Job Titles:
- State and Local Government Affairs Manager With the International Sign Association
James Carpentier is State and Local Government Affairs Manager with the International Sign Association (ISA). In this capacity James works with and educates local officials and planners in the creation of reasonable and effective sign codes. Prior to that James was the owner of Carpentier Consulting LLC, where he specialized in sign variances, entitlements and sign legislation. In addition, James was Director of Government Relations for one of the largest and most respected sign companies in the country. James also has over 25 years' experience as a certified planner in the public and private sectors. He has Bachelors from the University of Wisconsin Green Bay and Masters studies in Public Administration and Urban Planning from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.
James can be reached at james.carpentier@signs.org.
Jason Luger is a lecturer in City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley, College of Environmental Design and an urban geographer. His academic research focuses on the production of urban space and urban spatial politics. He has also been a planning and economic development practitioner, working in the public and private sectors in the United States and globally. He is the co-editor of the book "Art and the City" (Routledge, 2017) and has authored more than a dozen peer reviewed publications. At UC Berkeley, he teaches the undergraduate courses "Introduction to City Planning CP110", and "The Urban Community, CP118AC". He also has taught in urban studies at the University of San Francisco and San Francisco State University.
Jeff Levine, AICP, has been involved with land use planning on the local and regional level for 20 years. Before coming to Portland, he was the Director of Planning & Community Development for Brookline, MA, where he managed the completion of the town's award-winning Comprehensive Plan and a public realm plan for the Route 9 corridor into Boston. Previously, he worked as the Director of Transportation & Long Range Planning for the City of Somerville, MA, and as a regional planner for the Cape Cod Commission. A New England native, he has been involved in a number of land use transformations, including the redevelopment of the Assembly Square district in Somerville; planning for the introduction of a new light rail transit line in Somerville; redevelopment of John Kennedy's boyhood church into a mixed-income housing development in Brookline; and the redevelopment of the Bayside district in Portland. Jeff has also been involved in Metropolitan Planning Organizations in Boston, on Cape Cod, and in Portland. Jeff is an adjunct faculty member at the Muskie School of Public Service, and was previously an adjunct at Tufts University, at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and at the APA Planning Leadership Institute. He has a degree in urban planning from the University of Minnesota and an undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University.
Jessica White is a GIS Analyst and cartographer who is passionate about the possibilities of GIS and the knowledge it provides. She has worked in both the public and private sector providing GIS analysis and is currently pursuing her Masters degree in GIS and cartography at San Jose State University.
Job Titles:
- Fellow of the Penn Institute for Urban Research
Jonathan Barnett is Fellow of the Penn Institute for Urban Research and an Emeritus Professor of Practice in City and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania. He is an urban design consultant as well as an educator, and is the author of many books and articles on the theory and practice of city design. He has been an advisor to the cities of Charleston, SC, Cleveland, Kansas City, Miami, Nashville, New York City, Norfolk, Omaha, and Pittsburgh in the United States, as well as Tianjin and Xiamen in China. Jonathan Barnett has been awarded the Dale Prize for Excellence in Urban Design and Regional Planning, the Athena Medal from the Congress for the New Urbanism, and the William H. Whyte award from the Partners for Livable Places as a pioneer of education in urban design. He is a fellow of both the American Institute of Architects and the American Institute of Certified Planners.
Job Titles:
- Associate Director for Community Engaged Research
Kendra L. Smith, Ph.D. is the Associate Director for Community Engaged Research in the Office of Community Engagement in the Center for Population Health Sciences - School of Medicine at Stanford University. Previously, she served as a Policy Analyst at the Morrison Institute for Public Policy, a Post-Doctoral Scholar, and Research Fellow at the Center for Urban Innovation at Arizona State University.
Kendra earned a doctorate in Community Resources & Development at Arizona State University and a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma. Kendra has a strong background in university-community partnerships, community engaged research, and the utilization of crowdsourcing platforms.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor at the University of San Francisco School of Management
Kevin Lo is an Associate Professor at the University of San Francisco School of Management in the Department of Organization, Leadership, and Communication. He is currently Secretary for the Board of Directors for the Management and Organizational Behavior Teaching Society (MOBTS), a professional, academic organization, which has as its mission: "to enhance the quality of teaching and learning across the management disciplines." He previously chaired the Doctoral Institute at the annual MOBTS Conference for two years. He is also an Associate Editor at the Journal of Management Education, the flagship journal of MOBTS and one of the premier journals in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) space.
At the University of San Francisco, he is a member of the Steering Committee for the Center for Teaching Excellence as well as a trained peer coach. He has also facilitated two, year-long Faculty Learning Communities (one in community-engaged learning, one in mindfulness and self-care for faculty). Last year, he is facilitated a year-long seminar in Strengths-Based Leadership and Emotional Intelligence. He is frequently called upon at the university as a speaker in both mindfulness and emotional intelligence. He is certified in CliftonStrengths through Gallup, Emotional Intelligence through TalentSmarts, and Hogan Personality Assessments through Hogan Assessment Systems.
In 2014, he received the university award for Outstanding Teaching in Service-Learning. In 2017, he was awarded the Outstanding Teaching Award for Tenured Faculty at the School of Management. His current research is in management education as well as emotional and cultural intelligence. He received his doctoral degree in 2007 from the University of Hawaii, Manoa in International Management.
Teach for Planetizen Courses
If you're a leader in the field and have teaching experience, let us know.
Apply