![Myron Orfield at Sensible Land-Use Coalition](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Myron_Orfield_at_Sensible_Land-Use_Coalition.jpg)
Myron Willard Orfield, Jr. (born July 27, 1961) is an American law professor at the
University of Minnesota Law School
The University of Minnesota Law School is the law school of the University of Minnesota, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school confers four law degrees: a Juris Doctor (J.D.), a Master of Laws (LL.M.), a Master of Science in Patent L ...
, director of its Institute on Metropolitan Opportunity, and a former non-resident senior fellow at the
Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in e ...
. He has been called "the most influential social demographer in America's burgeoning regional movement." Orfield teaches and writes in the fields of civil rights, state and local government, state and local finance, land use, questions of regional governance, and the legislative process. He is known for developing a classification scheme for U.S. suburbs (based on stage of development, social stress and fiscal capacity), documenting suburban racial change and resegregation, and for developing innovative regional land use, public finance, and governmental reforms. He is a former member of the Minnesota Legislature, having served in both the state house (1991-2001) and senate (2001-2003) and is the younger brother of Gary Orfield, a political scientist at
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...
.
Education
Orfield was born in
Minneapolis, Minnesota. He graduated ''
summa cum laude'' from the
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...
, was a graduate student at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
, and has a J.D. from the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
, where he was a member of the
University of Chicago Law Review
The ''University of Chicago Law Review'' (Maroonbook abbreviation: ''U Chi L Rev'') is the flagship law journal published by the University of Chicago Law School. It is among the top five most cited law reviews in the world. Up until 2020, it utili ...
. Following law school, he clerked for the
United States Court of Appeals
United may refer to:
Places
* United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
Arts and entertainment Films
* ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film
* ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...
for the 8th Circuit and then returned to the
University of Chicago Law School
The University of Chicago Law School is the law school of the University of Chicago, a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is consistently ranked among the best and most prestigious law schools in the world, and has many dis ...
as a Research Associate and Bradley Fellow at the Center for Studies in Criminal Justice.
Political career
In 1990, Orfield was elected as a
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
to the
Minnesota House of Representatives
The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. There are 134 members, twice as many as the Minnesota Senate. Floor sessions are held in the north wing of the State Capitol in Saint ...
, where he served five terms, and to the
Minnesota Senate
The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any U.S. state legislature. Floor sessions are h ...
in 2000, where he served one term. There he was the architect of a series of important changes in land use, fair housing, and school and local government aid programs. Orfield was the co-author (with
Tim Pawlenty
Timothy James Pawlenty (; born November 27, 1960) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 39th governor of Minnesota from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party, Pawlenty served in the Minnesota House o ...
) of the Metropolitan Reorganization Act of 1994, which transformed the Twin Cities Metropolitan Council into the nation's most powerful regional government. His first book, ''Metropolitics: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability'', a study of local government structure and demographics, relates to these efforts.
Scholarship
For over a decade, Orfield has been president of Ameregis, a national regional research firm undertaking studies involving the legal, demographic and land use profiles of various American metropolitan areas. His second book, ''American Metropolitics: The New Suburban Reality'', is a compilation of his work involving the nation's 25 largest regions. His most recent book, Region: Planning the Future of the Twin Cities (U of M Press, 2010), co-authored with Thomas Luce, director of research at the Institute on Race and Poverty, examines the successes and failures of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Council's regional planning and policy work and includes recommendations for responsible, environmentally sound urban and suburban planning.
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orfield, Myron
University of Minnesota alumni
University of Minnesota Law School faculty
1961 births
Living people
Lawyers from Minneapolis
Politicians from Minneapolis
Democratic Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives
Democratic Party Minnesota state senators
21st-century American politicians