Eugenie L. Birch FAICP, RTPI (hon), is Lawrence C. Nussdorf Professor of Urban Research, Chair, Graduate Group of City and Regional Planning, University of Pennsylvania School of Design, co-director, Penn Institute for Urban Research (Penn IUR) and co-editor, City in the 21st Century series, University of Pennsylvania Press.

Her most recent books are: Women’s Health and the World’s Cities (2011) (with Afaf Meleis and Susan Wachter) Global Urbanization (2011), Neighborhoods and Life Chances: How Place Matters in Modern America (2011) (with Harriet Newberger and Susan Wachter) and Growing Greener Cities (2008) and Rebuilding Urban Places After Disaster, Lessons from Katrina (2006) (with Susan Wachter); Urban and Regional Planning Reader (2009) and Local Planning, Principles and Practice (ICMA 2009) (with Gary Hack, Paul Sedway and Mitchell Silver). In addition, she has co-edited “State of the New American City,” Special Issue, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences (626 November 2009 with Susan Wachter, “Centennial Issue,” Journal of the American Planning Association (75:2 April 2009): 2009) with Christopher Silver and “Reviving the Art of Biography: Martin Meyerson,” Journal of Planning History (forthcoming). In 2005, The Brookings Institution published Who Lives Downtown. Forthcoming is: Hopeful Signs: Urban Revitalization, 1970-2000 (Island Press). Her articles have appeared the Journal of the American Planning Association, Journal of Planning Education and Research, Journal of Urban History, Journal of Planning History and Planning Magazine.

Professor Birch has held many leadership positions. She is currently president, International Planning History Society and has served as chair, Department of City and Regional Planning, University of Pennsylvania; chair, Department of Urban Affairs and Planning, Hunter College/CUNY; president, Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning; president, Society of American City and Regional Planning History; co-editor, Journal of the American Planning Association and chair, Planning Accreditation Board. She has been a commissioner, New York City Planning Commission and a member of the jury to select the designers of the World Trade Center site. She is currently chair, board of directors of the Municipal Art Society of New York and co-chair, UN-HABITAT’s World Urban Campaign.

Dr. Birch received her PhD and Masters degrees in Urban Planning from Columbia University and an AB from Bryn Mawr College. She is a longtime resident of New York City.