Carl Steinitz

Alexander and Victoria Wiley Professor of Landscape Architecture and Planning, Emeritus

Carl Steinitz is the Alexander and Victoria Wiley Professor of Landscape Architecture and Planning, Emeritus, at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University. In 1967, Professor Steinitz received his PhD degree in City and Regional Planning, with a major in urban design, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).  He also holds the Master of Architecture degree from MIT and a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cornell University. In 1966 he began his affiliation with the Harvard Graduate School of Design as a research associate in the Laboratory for Computer Graphics and Spatial Analysis. He has been Professor of Landscape Architecture and Planning at the Graduate School of Design since 1973. He is currently Honorary Professor at the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis at University College London.

Professor Steinitz has devoted much of his academic and professional career to improving methods to analyze large land areas and make design decisions about conservation and development. His applied research and teaching focus is on highly valued landscapes that are undergoing substantial pressures for change. He is principal author of Alternative Futures for Changing Landscapes (Island Press 2003), author of  A Framework for Geodesign, (Esri Press, 2012) and a founding coordinator of the International Geodesign Collaboration.

Professor Steinitz has lectured and given workshops at more than 160 universities. In 1984, the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) presented Professor Steinitz with the Outstanding Educator Award for his “extraordinary contribution to environmental design education” and for his “pioneering exploration in the use of computer technology in landscape planning, especially in the areas of resource management and visual impact assessment.” In 1996 he received the annual “Outstanding Practitioner Award” from the International Society of Landscape Ecology and in 2002, he was honored as one of Harvard University’s outstanding teachers. He has served since 2007 as the External Academic Adviser to the European Union funded LE:NOTRE program to rationalize landscape education in Europe. Professor Steinitz has received the 2015 recipient of the Carpenter Teaching Medal from the American Society of Landscape Architects and he has several honorary degrees.