The Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD) seeks to appoint a distinguished scholar and/or practitioner with a deep understanding of housing markets, practice, and policy to serve as the inaugural Nicolas P. and Joan B. Retsinas Director of the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies.
The successful candidate will also be appointed to an appropriate non-tenured faculty position in the Faculty of Design as Associate Professor in Practice, or as a member of the senior faculty, either as Professor in Practice or Senior Lecturer. They must have a proven track record in fundraising, strategic planning, and organizational leadership. They will be expected to teach and lead housing-related activities at the GSD. Candidates must have a background in urban planning, design, economics, public policy, law, or related fields.
In the role of Director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies, the appointee has responsibility for establishing the strategic direction of the Center, expanding the Center’s national impact, securing funding for its operation, and leading a staff of approximately 20 full-time employees working across the domains of research, communications, events, student engagement, finance, and administration. The Director works closely with the Center’s research team to establish and pursue a rigorous annual research agenda, overseeing the thematic direction of four major annual reports, including the highly respected State of the Nation’s Housing, as well the production of working papers, academic articles, and other publications.
The Director must be highly visible in the realms of housing policy and industry, serving as the public face for the Center. The Director must have a sophisticated understanding of the current and historical United States housing landscape with the ability to speak expertly on a range of housing-related topics including real estate markets, affordability, housing policy and finance, rental housing and homeownership, housing and urban design, community development, and demographic change. The Director routinely delivers keynote addresses and speaks on panels at national events, is interviewed by national media outlets, and testifies before Senate and House committee hearings about important housing issues.
The Director works closely with the Center’s Policy Advisory Board (PAB), a group of roughly 60 CEOs in the housing industry, to strengthen the policy connections between academia and industry. The PAB provides significant annual funding to the Center, and the Director works with senior staff at the Center and the Chair of the PAB to plan and execute three annual PAB meetings with a two-day agenda of speakers from industry, policy, and academia.
The search committee will review applications on a rolling basis. For full consideration, please submit materials by January 9, 2026.
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