Malo André Hutson, Ph.D., MCP, Dean and Edward E. Elson Professor at the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture, is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in the areas of community development, climate resilience, environmental justice, and urban health. As a scholar, teacher, and practitioner, he focuses on the nexus of environmental, architectural, and urban equity practices. He is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships including the Salzburg Global Fellowship, two Mellon Fellowships, and a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Scholar Fellowship, among others. He served as tenured Professor at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University where he was a Director of the Urban Planning Ph.D. Program and the Urban Community and Health Equity Lab. He was also the Director of Project Development for Columbia World Projects, a university-wide initiative that mobilizes researchers and scholars to work with governments, organizations, businesses, and communities to tackle global challenges. He served on the Executive Committee of the Earth Institute, Columbia's Climate School. Hutson has also held academic leadership appointments at the University of California at Berkeley, serving as Associate Director of the Institute of Urban and Regional Planning (IURD) and the Chair of the Urban Studies Program.
Hutson has worked nationally and internationally on community-centered projects that improve the economic, environmental, political, and social well-being of urban residents. His research and writing have been recognized by numerous awards and grants, and his most recent book, The Urban Struggle for Economic, Environmental, and Social Justice: Deepening Their Roots (Routledge, 2016), explores the efforts by coalitions of residents, community leaders, unions, and others to resist displacement as a result of neighborhood change and gentrification.
As an expert leader in the areas of community development, environmental justice, and urban health, he was invited to participate in the Obama Administration’s White House Forum on Environmental Justice, has advised the PEW Charitable Trusts and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Impact Project, and spearheaded a community-driven process for the development of the Oakland Unified School District, among many other projects.
Hutson received his Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning from the School of Architecture and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and earned both his Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Master of City Planning degrees from the University of California at Berkeley. In addition, Hutson is an alumnus of the Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholars Program where he was a fellow at the University of Michigan’s Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health within the School of Public Health.