Jason Reece is an assistant professor of city and regional planning at the Knowlton School and a faculty affiliate at The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnicity. His work broadly focuses on social equity and justice in the context of planning history, theory and practice. More specifically, his research seeks to understand the role of planning in fostering a built and social environment which supports a just city and healthy communities. At the Knowlton School Jason teaches courses in equity planning, community development, land use law, planning theory and planning history. He also teaches as a summer instructor in the College of Public Health Summer Population Health program and for the OSU College of Medicine’s Aspire program.

Jason's most recent research collaborations include supporting the Diversity Data Kids program at the Heller School at Brandeis University, acting as the lead evaluator for the Move to Prosper affordable housing pilot program and supporting the Ohio Department of Health's vulnerable populations and COVID-19 working group. He was previously lead program evaluator and program designer for the I Am My Brothers Keeper youth community building program funded by Franklin County Jobs and Family Services.

Prior to joining the faculty in the Knowlton School, he worked in both academic and public sector roles. Most recently he was the senior associate director and director of research for the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnicity at The Ohio State University. In addition to leading the Institute’s research portfolio, he acted as an advisor and capacity builder to foundations, non-profits, community organizations and government agencies in more than thirty states. He has also worked at a regional planner for the Northwest Michigan Council of Governments and as a planning and GIS specialist for Ohio State University extension.

Jason has managed more than $10 million in research initiatives. He has published peer reviewed scholarship in the Journal of Planning Literature, Housing Policy Debate, Cityscape, Community Development, Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems and Community Development, Health Affairs and the Journal of the American Medical Association - Pediatrics. He has also authored 13 media/web based publications, 93 technical research publications and was an invited speaker for more than 350 engagements.

Expertise

His research has directly influenced planning practice, policy and public or philanthropic investment. Working in collaboration with civil rights scholar john a. powell, he developed the opportunity mapping methodology, a methodology utilized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and planning organizations across the nation. He was a collaborator in designing the court ordered fair housing remedy for the Baltimore region in Thompson v. HUD, one of the largest U.S. District Court fair housing cases in recent history. He acted as an equity planning capacity builder for the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development Sustainable Communities Initiative for four years in collaboration with PolicyLink, working with 74 regional planning grantees across the nation. His research has informed local, regional and national philanthropic organizations, including the Ford Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Open Society Foundation, the California Endowment, the Jessie Ball DuPont Fund, the Columbus Foundation and the United Way of Central Ohio.

Jason's academic training has been in the fields of urban geography and city planning. He holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in Geography and Urban and Regional Planning from Miami University (1999). He completed his Masters in City & Regional Planning (2001) and PhD (2016) in City & Regional Planning from The Ohio State University. He was professionally certified (AICP) by the American Institute of Planners from 2003 to 2009. Jason received the 2019 OSU College of Engineering Faculty Diversity Excellence Award. He has served on the Board of Directors and as President of the Parsons Avenue Redevelopment Corporation since 2014.