People

PEOPLE

Wharton GIS Lab

Susan M. Wachter (wachter@wharton.upenn.edu )

Susan M. Wachter is Professor of Real Estate and Finance at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and Director of the Wharton GIS Lab. Dr. Wachter served as Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, from 1998 to 2001. As Assistant Secretary, Dr. Wachter was principal advisor to the Secretary of HUD on national housing and urban policy. Dr. Wachter served as President of the American Real Estate Urban Economics Association from 1988 to 1989. The author of over 100 publications and 10 volumes, Dr. Wachter was Chairperson of the Wharton Real Estate Department from 1996 to 1998. Formerly co-editor of Real Estate Economics, Dr. Wachter serves on multiple editorial boards and is a Faculty Fellow of The Homer Hoyt Institute for Advanced Real Estate Studies, Visiting Fellow of the Brookings Institute and Academic Fellow of the Urban Land Institute.
Dr. Susan M. Wachter's curriculum vitae

Paul Amos (amosp@wharton.upenn.edu)

Paul Amos is the Senior Research Director of the Wharton GIS Research Laboratory. He has over seven years experience with desktop geographic information systems software and is an ESRI certified ArcGIS instructor. Since coming to Wharton five years ago, Mr. Amos has focused on customizing GIS software for commercial real estate clients, developing internet mapping software applications and analyzing residential property values with GIS. Mr. Amos has recently started writing GIS software product reviews for Directions Magazine (www.directionsmag.com). Prior to coming to Wharton, Mr. Amos was a GIS Analyst under the direction of Craig Smith, MAI at Smith-Parke & Co., Inc. in Sarsota, Florida. He is currently working on a Masters degree in Technology Management at the University of Pennsylvania, and has earned a Masters degree in Geography from the University of Florida.

Kevin Gillen (gillenk@wharton.upenn.edu)

Kevin Gillen is a fifth year Ph.D. student in Applied Economics at the Wharton School. He has over nine years experience in developing econometric models. At Wharton, Mr. Gillen has developed multiple applications of statistical forecasting models to real estate, using GIS technology. Several of these applications have resulted in scholarly publications in the field of real estate economics. Prior to Wharton, Mr. Gillen worked for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) developing models of mortgage termination, and for the Federal Reserve analyzing the U.S. financial system. Mr.Gillen holds a B.A. in Economics and Mathematics from Canisius College, and has also attended Georgetown University and Cambridge University on scholarship.

USGS

Richard Bernknopf (rbern@usgs.gov )

Richard Bernknopf is an economist with the Western Geographic Science Center of the US Geological Survey in Menlo Park, CA. Dr. Bernknopf's research focuses on the demonstration of the relevance and value to society of natural science information and the translation of that information into a form compatible with decision-making processes. He has published papers and books in the economics, hydrology, geology, geophysics, and planning literatures. His research with the US Geological Survey has spanned more than three decades. He has been a consulting professor and co-director of the Center for Earth Science Information Research at Stanford University and a research fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Institute for Urban Research and Wharton Geospatial Initiative. Currently, Dr. Bernknopf is a member of the editorial board of The Professional Geographer.

PROGRAM COORDINATOR

Carl Shapiro (cshapiro@usgs.gov)

Carl D. Shapiro has been an economist with the USGS for over 25 years. Currently, Dr. Shapiro is coordinating the USGS Science Impact Program. During his career at the USGS, Dr. Shapiro has also served as Principal Economist in the Office of the Director, Senior Advisor to the Director, and Acting Chief, Office of Strategic Planning and Analysis. Dr. Shapiro received the Department of the Interior’s Superior Service Award in 1999. Dr. Shapiro has been an adjunct faculty member with the School of Public Affairs at American University since 1996. In 2002, Dr. Shapiro received the University Outstanding Teaching Award for Adjunct Faculty.

ASSOCIATED FACULTY

Eugenie L. Birch (elbirch@design.upenn.edu)

Professor Birch has published widely in two fields: the history of planning and contemporary planning and housing. Her articles have appeared in such publications as the Journal of Urban History, Journal of Planning Education and Research, Journal of the American Planning Association and Planning magazine. Her book, The Unsheltered Woman: Housing in the Eighties is a collection of essays generated by a Ford Foundation sponsored research project undertaken with Donna E. Shalala. She served as an Associate Editor of the Encyclopedia of New York City, edited by Kenneth T. Jackson. Professor Birch served as President of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, co-edited the Journal of the American Planning Association, and was President of the Society of American City and Regional Planning History. From 1990 through 1995, Dr. Birch was a member of the New York City Planning Commission. In 1994, the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning gave her the Margarita McCoy Award "in recognition of her outstanding contribution to furthering the advancement of women in the planning academy." In 2004, Dr. Birch became a founding co-Director of the Penn Institute for Urban Research.

Professor Eugenie Birch's curriculum vitae

Tony E. Smith (tesmith@ssc.upenn.edu)

Professor Smith has an extensive background in statistical modeling of spatial interaction behavior and has published more than 60 papers in this area, including a book on gravity models of spatial interaction behavior. His numerous awards include the Distinguished Regional Science Scholar Award in 1999, and he was made a Fellow of the Regional Science Association in 2003. Professor Smith is currently co-editor of Networks and Spatial Economics, and is an associate editor of the Journal of Regional Science and Geographical and Environmental Modeling.

Professor Tony Smith's curriculum vitae

Thomas Daniels (thomasld@design.upenn.edu)

Professor Daniels directs the concentration in Environmental Planning and Growth Management. His main areas of interest are farmland preservation, growth management, and connections between land use and water quality. Professor Daniels has taught at SUNY-Albany, Kansas State University, and Iowa State University. He has served on the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of the American Planning Association, and in 2002 he was a Senior Fulbright Scholar at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. Professor Daniels is the author of When City and Country Collide: Managing Growth in the Metropolitan Fringe, and co-author of Holding Our Ground: Protecting America's Farmland and The Small Town Planning Handbook, published by the American Planning Association.

Professor Tom Daniels' curriculum vitae

Albert Saiz (saiz@wharton.upenn.edu)

Professor Saiz obtained his Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University. Prior to joining the Wharton faculty, Professor Saiz served as an economist in the Regional Economy section of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. His main lines of research explore the impact of immigration on local housing markets and the relationship between nominal wages, prices, real wages and the residential choices of immigrants. Professor Saiz has also worked on research concerning the determinants of contemporary city growth and housing aspects of city revitalization.

Professor Albert Saiz's curriculum vitae

Janice Madden (madden@ssc.sas.upenn.edu)

Janice F. Madden is a Professor of Regional Science, Sociology and Real Estate at the University of Pennsylvania. She came to Penn in 1972 after completing a Ph.D. in economics at Duke University. Professor Madden held the Robert C. Daniels Term Chair in Urban Studies from 1989-99. She served as the Vice Provost for Graduate Education, Penn's chief officer for graduate education, from 1991-99. She served as Director of the Women's Studies Program from 1988-1991 and from 2002-2004. She was North American editor of the international journal, Urban Studies, from 1998-2001 and continues to serve on the editorial board. Professor Madden's research dealing with the effects of race, gender, and urban location on labor market outcomes and metropolitan variations in income distribution has been published in four books and in a variety of economics journals, including Urban Studies, American Economic Review, Journal of Human Resources, Journal of Urban Economics, and Southern Economic Journal. Her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Mental Health, the Brookings Institution, and other federal agencies and foundations.

Professor Janice Madden's curriculum vitae

Robert F. Giegengack (gieg@sas.upenn.edu)

Professor Robert F. Giegengack received his Ph.D in Geology from Yale. He has twice served as Chairman of the Geology Department. He also served as a Co-Director at the Institute for Environmental Studies. Professor Giegengack has received numerous teaching awards, including the SAS Dean’s Award for Innovation in Teaching in 2003. He was a co-recipient of the W.T. Grant Inaugural Award for Youth Development in 2003. Professor Giegengack’s research interests include archeology and the role terrain has played in military history.

Professor Robert F. Giegengack's curriculum vitae

RESEARCH ASSOCIATES

Ilse L. Frank (ifrank@design.upenn.edu)

Ilse Frank is a third year dual-Master candidate in Landscape Architecture and City Planning at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design. She has over five years experience with urban design and landscape architecture. At Penn, Ms. Frank has engaged in academic research, writing, and investigation of the Orlando Region, the Everglades, and Miami-Dade County. The research in Florida relates to her interests in how city and nature can relate and work together, and how inter-disciplinary efforts work together to make more vibrant and sustainable places. Ms. Frank has worked in a number of interdisciplinary design offices including West 8 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands and Wallace Roberts Todd in Philadelphia, PA. Ms. Frank holds a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Texas at Austin.