The Knowlton School is pleased to announce Dr. Jennifer Clark’s appointment as Knowlton School Distinguished Professor beginning June 1, 2023. Dr. Clark’s expertise in her field, significant career accomplishments, proven skills in teaching, proposal writing, and mentorship warrant this recognition.

Dr. Clark is a leading expert in regional economic development planning. She is a Fellow of the American Association of Geographers and a Fellow of the Regional Studies Association. She has served as the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the journal Regional Studies since 2018. She is also a Visiting Professor of City and Regional Planning with the School of Business at the University of Stavanger in Norway. And, here at Ohio State, she also holds a courtesy appointment with the Department of Geography.

Dr. Clark is an award-winning author. Her most recent book Uneven Innovation: The Work of Smart Cities (Columbia University Press, 2020) won the 2021 Urban Affairs Association Best Book Award as well as the 2022 Regional Studies Association Best Book Award. Her first book, Remaking Regional Economies: Power, Labor, and Firm Strategies in the Knowledge Economy (Routledge, 2007 with Susan Christopherson) also won the 2009 Regional Studies Association Best Book Award.

In addition, Dr, Clark is the author of Working Regions: Reconnecting Innovation and Production in the Knowledge Economy (Routledge, 2013) and co-author of the 3rd edition of Basic Methods of Policy Analysis and Planning (Routledge, 2012), a widely adopted text in urban planning and policy courses. She is co-editor of the Handbook of Manufacturing Industries in the World Economy (Edward Elgar, 2015) and Transitions in Regional Economic Development(Routledge, 2018). Dr. Clark has also written numerous articles and book chapters appearing in venues such as the Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy, and Society; the Journal of Urban Affairs; Regional Studies; Metropolitics; Local Economy, Journal of Planning Education and Research; and MIT Technology Review.

Dr. Clark teaches courses on urban and regional economic development theory, analysis and practice, and research design and methods. She has provided expert testimony before the U.S. Congress and consulted with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Canadian, U.K., and U.S. governments.

Before joining Ohio State, Dr. Clark taught at Cornell University and the Georgia Institute of Technology where she was also the Director of the Center for Urban Innovation. In March 2023 she was appointed to a second term as Head of the City and Regional Planning Section in the Knowlton School.