Faculty & Staff
Faculty
Jerry Anthony
Les Beck
Douglas Boothroy
Bart Cramer
Peter S. Fisher
Garth Frable
John W. Fuller
Richard Funderburg
Paul Hanley
Rick Havel
Lucie Laurian
Heather MacDonald
Alan Peters
Jeff Schott
David Swenson
Dan Swartzendruber
James A. Throgmorton
John Yapp
Staff
Pam Butler
Suzanne Cowdery
Janet Bell
Jerry Anthony - Associate Professor
Ph.D. - Urban and Regional Planning - Florida State University 2000
Land Use Planning
Housing Policy
Growth Management
My major areas of research interest are: a) housing and community development issues - in particular federal, state and local housing policies and the development of affordable housing; b) growth management, where I am concerned about the benefits and costs of growth management polices and their distribution across different income populations; and c) land, infrastructure and housing market issues in developing countries especially those of South Asia and Latin America. In addition, I am interested in built-form and urban design issues. My teaching interests have much in common with my research interests.
Jerry's public engagement activities: http://www.ype.uiowa.edu/spotlight/archived/jerry-anthony.html
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Les Beck - Adjunct Lecturer
M.A. - Community and Regional Planning - Iowa State University 1999
Land Use Planning
Mr. Beck has over 20 years of experience as a planning department director and has been involved in a wide range of land use and information management issues. He has been a presenter at local, regional and national conferences on topics including agricultural land preservation and growth management, GIS development and implementation, and management of planning and zoning offices.
Mr. Beck currently is the Director of the Linn County, Iowa Planning & Development Department and previously served as the Director of the Story County, Iowa Planning & Zoning Department. Mr. Beck is the immediate past President of the County Zoning Officials Organization, a Past-President of the Iowa Chapter of the American Planning Association, and has served on several state-level task forces. In addition he has taught growth management at Iowa State University and has done occasional private consulting work for GIS and zoning clients.
Mr. Beck attended Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa where he received his Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture and Master of Community and Regional Planning degrees. He was awarded The Design Achievement Award by Iowa State University in 2002.
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Janet Bell - Secretary/Web Developer
B.A. - Business - Muskingum College
I joined Urban and Regional Planning in 2001 and enjoy the different aspects of my work here and the people I assist, whether it be the faculty, students, alumni, or applicants to our program. Aside from my other duties, once a year I put together the departmental newsletter. This requires some sleuthing beforehand in order to update our contact information for alumni. I especially enjoy the process of searching for information and the satisfaction of knowing we are able to keep in touch with more of our alumni. My professional experience includes 15 years at the University of Iowa, on both the academic and medical sides, which has given me extensive knowledge of the University. Outside of work, my interests include American Sign Language, Deaf culture and volunteer activities.
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Dougas Boothroy - Adjunct Lecturer
M.A - Urban and Regional Planning - University of Iowa 1975
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Pam Butler - Departmental Secretary
Hi everyone. I've been the Program Secretary since September 1999. I thoroughly enjoy it here! I love working with the students, faculty, staff and many other members throughout the University community. I especially like the variety of things I do. The academic setting in Urban and Regional Planning has inspired me to start taking a few classes. Currently Spanish is my main interest. I’ve enjoyed being in the classroom again!
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Suzanne Cowdery - Director of Admissions and Placement
Hello! I have been Admissions Director for the Planning Program since 1990, and our Admissions Committee works to bring a mixture of age, experience and backgrounds to the enrolling class each year. In 1998, Alumni and Placement efforts were added to my position, allowing the development of a circle of involvement with current students and alumni.
In admissions, we seek students who want to make a difference—who come with individual strengths and who will contribute and be challenged in this stimulating environment. Throughout the two-year program, providing exceptional Placement services to assist students with internship and job searches remains a priority.
While our graduates secure jobs nationwide, individual friendships and ties developed during their years in Iowa City remain strong. In celebration of our Program’s 40th anniversary, the first Planning Program reunion was held in 2004, and one out of every six Program graduates returned for the event! Alumni are an important part of the Program and they actively contribute with Program evaluation, guest presentations, collaboration, and networking for placement.
If you have any questions about our program, the admissions process, placement or alumni, please feel free to contact me. My e-mail is <suzanne-cowdery@uiowa.edu>, and my telephone number is 319-335-0041—or (toll-free) 1-800-553-IOWA (4692), ext. 5-0041.
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Bart Cramer - Adjunct Lecturer
Ph.D. - Economic Geography - University of Iowa 2007
Transportation Economics and PlanningLivable Cities
GIS applications
After a career in exploration with a major international oil company, I returned to academia and completed a Ph.D. in transportation / economic geography, examining the rejuvenation of the North American freight rail industry. I have lived in a number of US cities and also lived and traveled in Western Europe, as well as making business and pleasure trips to Canada (see photo), Mexico, Madagascar and Bolivia. In my teaching I am able to draw on my experiences with a wide variety of developing and developed country conditions, and on varying location and culture-dependent approaches to transportation, energy, and other planning issues.
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Peter Fisher - Professor
Ph.D. - Economics - University of Wisconsin 1978
Public Policy EconomicsPoverty and Social Policy
Infrastructure Finance
All of my teaching and research activities share a common foundation in public sector economics and urban economics. My core course Economics for Policy Analysis I is intended to provide those same foundations to planning students. My recent research has focused on critical appraisals of the use of tax incentives as an economic development tool, particularly in enterprise zones; this has complemented my teaching in the area of development finance.A second major interest of mine is how the market system generates income inequality, and how state and local public policies and planning activities are shaped by, and in turn aggravate or alleviate, the problems of poverty and the fragmentation of metropolitan areas by income and race. These issues are a central focus of my course Poverty, Planning and Public Policy.I also believe that students need a solid grounding in analytical techniques. Major portions of my elective courses Community Development Finance and Financing Local Government are devoted to techniques of financial analysis applied to financing businesses in low-income neighborhoods or to problems in financing or pricing urban infrastructure. Full C.V.
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Garth Frable - Adjunct Lecturer
M.A. - Urban and Regional Planning - University of Iowa 1993
Environmental Policy
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John Fuller - Professor, Associate Chair, and Director of Graduate Studies
Ph.D. - Economics - Washington State University 1968
Transportation Planning
The focus of my teaching and research has been transportation planning. I acquired over a decade of practical experience following the completion of my Ph.D., working in the Planning Division of a state Department of Transportation, and as the deputy executive director for the National Transportation Policy Study Commission. With my experience in producing transport plans, I teach a graduate course on how to develop transportation plans. In Transportation Planning Process, students analyze and evaluate actual air, rail, highway and urban plans and determine what is required to improve current plans. The Transportation Program Seminar Series allows students to explore current topics of interest in transportation.
I have recently been involved with the development of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, a U.S. Department of Transportation bureau which makes accessible a variety of information needed to improve transportation planning and policy making. My international interests include lecturing and grant affiliations in Venezuela, and consulting with Venezuela's ministry and metro rail system. A current focus has been cross-national comparison of transport information, and I am now working on reports covering transportation in Canada, Mexico and Japan.
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Richard Funderburg - Assistant Professor
Ph.D. – Planning, Policy, and Design – University of California Irvine 2006
Regional Science
Economic Development Policy
Spatial Analysis using GIS
My teaching and research activities focus on enhancing our understanding of the economic forces and policy interventions that help determine the shape and look of metropolitan areas and that present or aggravate pressing problems in contemporary cities. My research investigates the ability and limitations of public development policies to entice private businesses to locate, start up, or expand in regions where such growth would not otherwise occur but for the intervention. A closely related interest of mine is who benefits and who loses from such policies.
My courses in Economics for Policy Analysis, Economic Development Policy, and Applied GIS for Planners share a common aim to equip planners with the practical skills needed to succeed as critical analysts. Although I lean toward the technical side of urban and regional planning, my classes also draw from practitioner experiences as a state workforce development planner that acquainted me to the political realities encountered by most analysts in the public sphere. Full C.V.
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Paul Hanley, AICP - Associate Professor
Ph.D. - Urban and Regional Planning - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 1999
Transporation Planning
Urban and Environmental Infrastructure Planning
Planning Methodology
My major teaching and research interests are: urban and environmental infrastructure planning, computer technology in planning, and planning methodology. I draw on my undergraduate and graduate education in civil engineering, my formal planning education as well as my experiences as a professional planner, to research the question "How does infrastructure planning, design, and provision affect the natural and built environments?" I introduce analytical methods to planning students in my core course. My other courses extend the analytical methods to the evaluation of the impacts of transportation and environmental infrastructure on society. Full C.V.
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M.S. - Resource Planning- Southwest Missouri State University 1993
Applied GIS
Teaching the Applied GIS for Planners course with my colleague Dan Swartzendruber, has provided me the opportunity to share my experiences as a GIS Coordinator for Johnson County, Iowa with the students. GIS effects how county departments collect and disseminate information, especially within the Planning and Zoning Department. Applied GIS in Planning exposes students with little GIS experience to the potential that this type of system can offer an organization if properly managed and maintained. As the demand on the world's resources continues to increase, having timely and accurate computer models of reality produced within a GIS will be critical to proper planning and administration activities.
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Lucie Laurian - Assistant Professor
Ph.D. - Urban and Regional Planning - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 2001
The interactions between urban populations and their environments
The implementation of local environmental plans
Public Participation
The linkages between planning and public health
Lucie studies the effects of toxic sites on local populations and the participation of citizens in environmental planning decision-making processes. Some of her previous research, funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, focused on the effects of Superfund sites on the communities surrounding them. She now works on the evaluation of Community Advisory Boards as participatory mechanisms used for the cleanup of toxic sites.
Since 1998, she has been involved in a New Zealand-based research project on environmental planning processes. The project, titled “Planning Under a Cooperative Mandate,” focuses on the implementation of local environmental plans with regard to water quality, urban design, and citizen participation in the planning process. Dr. Laurian is involved in research about the interactions between the planning and public health disciplines. She teaches a “Healthy Cities” class focused on environmental planning and health. Full C.V.
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Heather MacDonald - Associate Professor
Ph.D. - Urban and Regional Planning - Rutgers University 1990
Housing and Community Development
Land Use
Gender and Urban/Rural Development
I teach classes in housing finance, community development, and land use, and I am also responsible for Field Problems, our capstone studio class. In my opinion, graduate classes are most interesting and challenging if students work on the sorts of analyses and projects they would be expected to be responsible for as professionals. I enjoy having a mix of discussion-oriented classes where we get to explore how planners should respond to challenges, and classes where we develop the more technical skills needed to complete the class assignments. For instance, in Affordable Housing Finance, students develop a pro forma (a financial feasibility analysis) for an affordable rental project using Low Income Housing Tax Credits, then find ways to fill the affordability gap as efficiently as possible, using a variety of subsidies.
My research reflects these varied interests. A lot of my work has analyzed housing policy and its outcomes, but I have balanced these more academic interests with a strong interest in actual policy-making. I have completed two in-depth assessments of housing and community development policy in Iowa, among many other professional reports. Based partly on these experiences, I recently published a book explaining the major data sources planners use (along with my colleague, Alan Peters), Unlocking the Census with GIS. I am working on several projects now, including and analysis of rural development patterns, rental housing preservation, and a comparison of national censuses. Full C.V.
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Alan Peters - Professor
Ph.D - Urban and Regional Planning - Rutgers University 1989
GIS & Planning
Development Policy
Alan Peters is also Professor and Head of Urban and Regional Planning in the Faculty of Architecture, Planning and Design at the University of Sydney, Australia. His teaching and research interests include Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and development (particularly economic development) policy, topics on which he has published a number of books. Among other things, he is currently working on an NSF sponsored project looking at the impact of state business taxes on growth. Alan is an avid sailor, ice-sailor and kayaker.
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Jeff Schott - Adjunct Lecturer
M.A. - Political Science - University of Iowa
Planning and City Administration
Schott is the Associate Director of the Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Iowa. In this capacity, he is responsible for delivery of the Institute of Public Affairs’ organizational improvement programs to local government elected officials and staff, including: Strategic Planning and Goal Setting, Educational Programs and Information, Professional Development, Public Management Assistance, and Information and Publications.
From 1987 – 2006, Schott was City Manager for the City of Marion, Iowa, with extensive experience in general administration, budget/finance, human resource management, facilities planning and development, intergovernmental relations, and strategic planning. Schott served as Vice President for Economic development with the Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Area Chamber of Commerce from 1986 – 87. He was also Community Development Director for the City of Marion, Iowa, from 1977 – 86, Planning Coordinator/Assistant Community Development Director for the City of Muscatine, Iowa from 1975 – 77, and Comprehensive Planning Coordinator for the City of Utica, New York from 1974 – 75.
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Dan Swartzendruber - Adjunct Lecturer
M.A. - Urban and Regional Planning- University of Iowa 2000
Applied GIS
Dan has worked as a Land Use Planner for the Johnson County, Iowa Planning and Zoning Department since 2000. Of particular interest for Dan is the integration of the County’s Geographical Information System (GIS) as a primary data collection and analysis tool for current and long-range planning activities. Dan currently serves as Chairman of the GIS Policy Committee for Johnson County; this group makes recommendation to the Board of Supervisors regarding GIS policy for the County.
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David Swenson - Adjunct Lecturer and Research Scientist (ISU)
M.S. - Urban and Regional Planning - University of Iowa 1985
Economic Impact Assessment
I am a staff regional scientist in the department of economics and a lecturer in community and regional planning at Iowa State University. My research focus is in small area economic analysis, community economics education, and the regional consequence of economic and social change. I conduct many industrial assessments annually, which include industrial and fiscal impact studies associated with firm growth or decline, and I directly consult with or provide technical assistance to state and local government agencies and to other public associations. As an instructor, I teach planning analysis and techniques courses at Iowa State University, and an introduction to economic impact assessment at the University of Iowa.
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Jim Throgmorton - Professor
Ph.D. - Urban and Regional Planning - University of California LA 1983
Planning theory, persuasive storytelling, and the rhetorics of planning practice
Planning for sustainable places
History of urban and regional planning
Innovative approaches to resolving conflicts
In my courses and research, I seek to construct and articulate persuasive visions of what might constitute a just and sustainable future for cities and regions. I also teach practical and politically-astute ways to understand, address, and potentially resolve the conflicts which inevitably occur when visions conflict. When discussing conflict and its potential resolution through argumentation, negotiation, mediation, and collaborative processes, I draw heavily on my own diverse practical experiences. These have included being a planner, a consultant, a researcher, an elected city councilman, and a human rights and environmental advocate.
Conceiving of planning as a process that is simultaneously political and technical, I encourage students to read and listen actively; that is, to discern how particular planning-related arguments are constructed, how those arguments are linked to larger narratives, and how those narratives often tend to obscure or ignore the potential merits of other arguments and narratives. Given the planner's need to act within a context of differing interests and perspectives, I also teach students how to argue persuasively in the face of questions and counter-claims. To teach these skills well, I have found it important to conduct most of my classes as a dialogue between the readings, the students, and myself. Full C.V.
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M.A. - Urban and Regional Planning - University of Iowa 1996
Development
Planning Practice
I am the Director of the Johnson County Council of Governments (JCCOG). JCCOG provides transportation planning, land use planning, human services planning and solid waste planning services to area local governments. The majority of this work is related to growth and development/redevelopment in the Iowa City metropolitan area. JCCOG is also becoming more involved in other regional initiatives such as planning for a joint emergency communications center and participating in passenger rail planning for eastern Iowa. In my teaching I am able to use many local examples of growth and development in illustrating how the development process is conducted.
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