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Ann Forsyth named Editor of Journal of the American Planning Association

Ann-Forsyth-portrait-headshotThe American Planning Association (APA), together with the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, has named Professor Ann Forsyth the Editor of the Journal of the American Planning Association (JAPA). Forsyth, who currently serves as Professor of Urban Planning and Director of the Master in Urban Planning Program at the GSD, will begin her five-year term on January 1, 2019.

“Ann’s appointment is a recognition of her great contributions and dedication to the planning profession,” said Diane E. Davis, Charles Dyer Norton Professor of Regional Development and Urbanism and Chair of the Department of Urban Planning and Design, in a press release. “She has directed Harvard GSD’s urban planning program with a steadfast commitment to the values of the field and with an eye to the most pressing urban-planning problems of our time. Over the years the editors of JAPA have helped steer this premier journal to engage in new dialogues across subfields, and it is this collaborative, cross-disciplinary spirit, embodied in the early years of the journal, that Ann’s professional work embodies and that she continues to advance at the GSD today. We are delighted and extremely proud that our colleague Ann Forsyth has been recognized with this important editorship.”

Ann Forsyth's recent, award-winning book, "Creating Healthy Neighborhoods"
Ann Forsyth’s recent, award-winning book, “Creating Healthy Neighborhoods”

Trained in planning and architecture, Forsyth received her doctorate in city and regional planning from Cornell University. Her research interests include how to make more sustainable and healthy cities, and the links between planning research and practice. She has published refereed articles in a number of prestigious journals, including JAPA, the Journal of Planning Education and Research, the Journal of Urban Design. A book Forsyth recently co-authored with Emily Salomon and Laura Smead, Creating Healthy Neighborhoods: Evidence-based Planning and Design Strategies, was honored with a 2018 Great Places Award from the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA).

At the GSD, Forsyth is co-leader of the Healthy Places Design Lab, which connects students and faculty working to understand how health is related to the places where people live. She is also a Senior Faculty Fellow at Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, an affiliated Faculty Member at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, a Faculty Associate at the Harvard University Center for the Environment, and a Faculty Associate at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.

“Professor Forsyth is a visionary among her peers in the planning profession, with an impressive record in both academia and professional practice,” said APA President and Chair of the JAPA Editor Search Committee Cynthia Bowen, FAICP. “I am excited about the future of JAPA under her leadership.”

An APA member for over three decades, Forsyth is the fifth woman to lead the JAPA Editorial Board since the journal was established in 1935. She will replace outgoing Editor Professor Sandra Rosenbloom of the University of Texas at Austin.

Read the APA press release.