1. Introduction
Welcome to the PhD program in City and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania. This handbook will assist you in making your years at Penn productive. The sections above map the doctoral program's requirements.
Penn has offered a doctorate since the early 1950s. Its first recipient, Herbert Gans (’57), now Robert S. Lynd Professor, Emeritus, Columbia University, has had a distinguished scholarly career from the publication of his first book, The Urban Villagers Group and Class in the Life of Italian- Americans (The Free Press, 1962) to his last one,) Sociology and Social Policy, Essays on Community, Economy and Society (Columbia University Press, 2017).
Other recent graduates are working worldwide in a variety of research-intensive and administrative positions. They include Nisha Botchwey (’03), Dean, Hubert Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota; Khaled Tarabieh (’09), University Architect and Associate Professor of Sustainable Design, American University in Cairo; Stephanie Ryberg (’10), Professor of Urban Affairs and Planning, Cleveland State University; Sisi Liang (’11), Associate Professor of Planning and Vice Dean for International Affairs, Tsinghua University; Evangeline Linkous (’12), Associate Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, University of South Florida; Stuart Andreason (’14), Executive Director of Programs, The Burning Glass Institute; Catherine Brinkley (’13), (DVM, ’15), Associate Professor of Human Ecology, Community and Regional Development, University of California, Davis; Albert Han (’15), Associate Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology; Amber Woodburn McNair (’16), Assistant Professor at Ohio State University; Theo Lim (’17), Assistant Professor, School of Public and International Affairs, Virginia Tech; Joshua Davidson (’23), Assistant Professor of Statistics and Data Science, Oberlin College.
As you may imagine, Penn’s more than 340 graduates have made important contributions to the field, working in academia and other research institutions. In a few years, your name will be on this list, and we expect you to be among the profession's leaders. As an additional bit of information, your doctoral degree has a STEM designation under the US Department of Education rubric, meaning that if you are not a US citizen, upon completion of your degree, you are allowed to take two years of post-degree professional training.
This Handbook will assist you in making your years at Penn productive.
Governing all your work, however, is the set of university rules established by the Graduate Council of Faculties, Graduate Rules, and Policies. In addition, the Weitzman School of Design Student Handbook covers school-specific issues.
Penn’s PhD program in City and Regional Planning endeavors to train exceptional scholars and thought-leaders in the field. To this end, the Graduate Group aims to ensure your acquisition of strong research and communication skills. It is also committed to cultivating enduring faculty/student mentoring relationships and collegial networking among your peers, including other PhD students in urban-focused disciplines. An integral part of this process is the doctoral advising system.
As a doctoral student you control the pace and timing of your work. However, the Graduate Group is here to help you. Maintain regular contact with the Graduate Group Chair (GGC), Eugénie Birch (with whom you should meet four times a year at the beginning and end of each semester), and with your advisors, once selected, at all stages of your program. Remember to keep your contact information up to date in Path@Penn and with the Graduate Group Administrator (GGA).
