The UVA School of Architecture welcomes Ryan Allen as Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning and Director of the Real Estate Design and Development Program
Ryan Allen, Ph.D., joins the faculty at the University of Virginia School of Architecture as professor in Urban and Environmental Planning and director of the Real Estate Design and Development program. His appointment is effective August 25, 2026.
Allen is a professor the University of Minnesota with a dual appointment at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and University of Minnesota Extension where he has been part of the faculty since 2007. His research focuses on housing and community development with an emphasis on the experience of immigrant communities in the United States. He is the author of myriad articles that focus on housing affordability, public housing, and immigrant integration, published in journals such as the Journal of the American Planning Association, the Journal of Urban Affairs, Urban Studies, and International Migration Review.
Recently, Allen has been leading a partnership with the Center for Migration Studies of New York City to produce reliable and accessible data on undocumented populations, providing trusted information to scholars, policymakers, journalists and the public to help to inform policy discussions. Through his longstanding collaboration with colleagues in Minnesota Extension Community Development, he has developed and published research on rural migration trends and housing precarity.
“I could not be more excited and honored to welcome Ryan to our academic community as his significant scholarship is situated at the heart the most complex challenges we face in planning the future of our cities and neighborhoods,” said Dean Malo A. Hutson. “Ryan’s research, focused on housing and community development, is central to our public mission and will guide the vision of our real estate program in its goal to teach students the skills to build more sustainable and equitable communities.”
"I am thrilled to join the faculty at the School of Architecture. The School's focus on developing tangible, public facing solutions to the world's greatest design challenges in a wonderful match for my ambitions as a scholar and teacher," said Professor Ryan Allen.
Allen recently served as associate dean for research for the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, supporting faculty research, strengthening the School’s research infrastructure, and connecting researchers and communities across Minnesota. Dean of the Humphrey School Nisha Botchwey shared, “Ryan’s leadership as associate dean for research has helped strengthen the foundation for [our School’s] research enterprise, and I am grateful for the systems and collaborations he has helped put in place. [He] has been a steady and collaborative leader in helping faculty navigate the increasingly complex landscape of research funding and sponsored projects.”
In addition to joining the faculty in the Department of Urban and Environmental Planning, Allen is appointed director of the School of Architecture’s Real Estate Design and Development program, which offers a certificate in real estate for graduate students majoring in architecture, landscape architecture, architectural history, and urban and environmental planning, as well as other students across the university. In this role, and pending official Board of Visitors approval, he will be named the inaugural H. Louis Salomonsky Professor in Real Estate.
Allen has held numerous named academic appointments and fellowships including: Humphrey School Director of Graduate Studies (Chair) in Urban and Regional Planning (2015-2023) and Senior Visiting Fellow for the City Futures Research Centre at the University of New South Wales (2017-2019). At the University of Minnesota, he was affiliated faculty with the Department of Sociology and Minnesota Population Center. Allen was named “Instructor of the Year” in 2024 by the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, and has received several academic recognitions for advising, mentoring, leadership and civic engagement.
As co-PI of Empowering Small Minnesota Communities (funded by the State of Minnesota), Allen is co-leading over $9M in funded research that supports the infrastructure needs of small towns in Minnesota. Allen earned a Ph.D. in urban and regional studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), holds an Master's in City Planning also from MIT, and a B.A. in economics and history from The College of William and Mary.
"We are delighted to welcome Professor Ryan Allen to the University of Virginia in fall 2026 as the inaugural Salomonsky Professor and director of the pan-university Real Estate Design and Development graduate certificate. His scholarship in affordable housing and immigration policy will position the School of Architecture and the university to accelerate leadership on these critical issues around the globe."