AMES, Iowa — Gregg Colburn, an associate professor in the University of Washington’s Runstad Department of Real Estate and co-author of Homelessness is a Housing Problem, will present a keynote lecture on the same topic for the 2024 Iowa State University Homelessness Symposium.

Colburn’s free talk will begin at 5 p.m. Thursday, April 18, in Kocimski Auditorium, room 0101 College of Design. He will be introduced by Angie Arthur, executive director of Homeward.

Colburn will serve on a panel of judges for the IDRO Research and Outreach Day Student Poster Session and competition from 2–4 p.m. that afternoon in the College of Design atrium. As part of his visit, he will also participate in an invited session with Homeward the following morning.

The annual Homelessness Symposium is hosted by the Department of Community and Regional Planning with support from the Gordon Family Endowment.

About the speaker

Colburn publishes on topics related to housing and homelessness and is the co-author with Clayton Page Aldern of Homelessness is a Housing Problem: How Structural Factors Explain U.S. Patterns (University of California Press, 2022), which explores U.S. cities’ diverse experiences with housing precarity and offers policy solutions for unique regional contexts.

Colburn’s research has been featured in leading media outlets, including The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Economist, Bloomberg and National Public Radio. Prior to joining academia, he worked as an investment banker and private equity professional.

At the University of Washington, Colburn teaches classes in housing, urban economics and finance. He serves as co-chair of the University of Washington’s Homelessness Research Initiative and is a member of the National Alliance to End Homelessness Research Council. He holds a BA from Albion College, MBA from Northwestern University, and MSW and PhD from the University of Minnesota.

Related event

Jenny Schuetz, a Senior Fellow at Brookings Metro and author of Fixer-Upper: How to Repair America’s Broken Housing Systems, will give a free public lecture at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 25, in room 0022 Sukup Hall at Iowa State. Her presentation is supported by the Polk County Housing Trust Fund, the Gordon Family Endowment, the College of Design, ISU Extension and Outreach Community and Economic Development and the master of real estate development program.

Contacts

Jane Rongerude, Community and Regional Planning, jrong@iastate.edu
Heather Sauer, College of Design Strategic Communications, hsauer@iastate.edu

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