The Joint Center for Housing Studies is a research center on

housing Housing refers to a property containing one or more Shelter (building), shelter as a living space. Housing spaces are inhabited either by individuals or a collective group of people. Housing is also referred to as a human need and right to ...

-related issues at

Harvard Kennedy School The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

. Through its research, education, and public outreach programs, the center helps leaders in government, business, and the civic sectors make decisions that effectively address the needs of cities and communities.

History

The center was formed in 1959 under the leadership of

Martin Meyerson Martin Meyerson (November 14, 1922 – June 2, 2007) was an American city planner, academic, and president of the University of Pennsylvania from 1970 to 1981. His research, mentorship, essays, and consulting were focused on post-World War II u ...

, its founding director, as the Harvard–MIT Joint Center for Urban Studies, to address intellectual and policy issues confronting a nation experiencing widespread demographic, economic and social change. Its research was based on the premise that the resolution of these issues called for imaginative interdisciplinary approaches to the study of urban problems and issues, and required cooperation among universities, government and industry. In 1989, a split was made from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

, and became affiliated solely with Harvard's

Graduate School of Design Graduate may refer to: Education * The subject of a graduation, i.e. someone awarded an academic degree ** Alumni, a former student who has either attended or graduated from an institution * High school graduate, someone who has completed high ...

and

. The center consolidated the focus on housing that had emerged during the 1970s, and changed the ending of its name from Urban Studies to Housing Studies. An annual lecture in honor of

John Thomas Dunlop John Thomas Dunlop (July 5, 1914October 2, 2003) was an American administrator, labor economist, and educator. Dunlop was the United States Secretary of Labor between 1975 and 1976 under President Gerald Ford. He was Director of the United Stat ...

is administered by the Joint Center for Housing Studies. Notable keynotes include: Herbert Kohler Jr. (2001);

Angelo Mozilo Angelo Robert Mozilo (December 16, 1938 – July 16, 2023) was an American mortgage industry banker who was co-founder, chairman of the board, and chief executive officer of mortgage giant Countrywide Financial until July 1, 2008. Mozilo retir ...

(2002);

Henry Cisneros Henry Gabriel Cisneros (born June 11, 1947) is an American politician and businessman. He served as the mayor of San Antonio, Texas, from 1981 to 1989, the second Latino mayor of a major American city and the city's first since 1842 (when Jua ...

(2003); Kim B. Clark (2004);

Jack Kemp Jack French Kemp (July 13, 1935 – May 2, 2009) was an American politician, professional Gridiron football, football player, and U.S. Army veteran. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party from New York, he served a ...

(2005);

Lewis Ranieri Lewis S. Ranieri (; born 1947) is a former bond trader, and founding partner and current chairman of Ranieri Partners, a real estate firm. He is considered the "father" of mortgage-backed securities and co-founder of mortgage-backed securitie ...

(2008);

Shaun Donovan Shaun Lawrence Sarda Donovan (born January 24, 1966) is an American government official and housing specialist who served as the 15th United States secretary of housing and urban development from 2009 to 2014, and Director of the US Office of M ...

(2009);

Marc Morial Marc Haydel Morial (born January 3, 1958) is an American political and civic leader and the current president of the National Urban League. Morial served as Mayor of New Orleans from 1994 to 2002 as the city's youngest Mayor, President of th ...

(2010);

Jonathan Reckford Jonathan T. M. Reckford is an American businessman and chief executive officer of Habitat for Humanity International. In 2017, ''The NonProfit Times'' named him the most influential nonprofit leader in America. Early life Reckford grew up in Cha ...

(2011);

Mel Martínez Melquíades Rafael Ruiz Martínez (born October 23, 1946) is a Cuban-American lobbyist and former politician who served as a United States senator from Florida from 2005 to 2009 and as general chairman of the Republican Party from November 200 ...

(2012);

Ron Terwilliger J. Ronald Terwilliger (born 1941) is the Chairman Emeritus and retired chief executive officer of Trammell Crow Residential, and the founder and chairman of the J. Ronald Terwilliger Foundation for Housing America's Families. Early life and edu ...

(2013);

Jonathan F. P. Rose Jonathan Frederick Phinneas Rose (born 1952)BuildingNY: "The Life of Jonathan F. P. R ...

(2014);

Marty Walsh Martin Joseph Walsh (born April 10, 1967) is an American politician and trade union official who served as the 58th mayor of Boston from 2014 to 2021 and as the 29th United States Secretary of Labor from 2021 to 2023. A member of the Democr ...

(2017);

Raphael Bostic Raphael W. Bostic (born June 5, 1966) is an American economist, academic, and public servant who has served as the 15th president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta since 2017.Kim Dowdell Kimberly Nicole Dowdell, , is an American architect, real estate developer, and educator. She is originally from Detroit, Michigan, and is a Chicago-based. Dowdell is currently a principal at HOK's Chicago office, and she served as the 2019-2020 ...

(2019); and

Michael Maltzan Michael Maltzan is the principal architect at Michael Maltzan Architecture (MMA), a Los Angeles–based architecture firm. He received a Master of Architecture degree from Harvard University and both a Bachelor of Architecture degree and a Bachelo ...

(2020).

Directors

Notable affiliates

Rahul Mehrotra Rahul Mehrotra is Founder Principal of architecture firm RMA Architects (founded in 1990 as Rahul Mehrotra Associates) of Mumbai + Boston, and is Professor of Urban Design and Planning and Chair of the Department of Urban Planning and Design a ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and

urban designer Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

Toshiko Mori Toshiko Mori (born 1951) is a Japanese architect and the founder and principal of New York–based Toshiko Mori Architect, PLLC and Vision Arc. She is also the Robert P. Hubbard Professor in the Practice of Architecture at the Harvard University ...

, architect *

Alexander von Hoffman Alexander Carl von Hoffman (born July 11, 1951, in United States) is an American urban planner and historian. He is currently Lecturer in Urban Planning and Design at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and Senior Research Fellow at ...

, urban planner and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

References

External links

Official website
1959 establishments in Massachusetts Harvard Kennedy School Massachusetts Institute of Technology Housing in the United States Harvard University research institutes {{Harvard-university-stub