The following individuals have been selected to receive the Mary Helen Callahan Distinguished Service Award.
- Dr. Sabina Deitrick (University of Pittsburgh)
- Dr. Edward Goetz (University of Minnesota)
- Dr. Jill Simone Gross (Hunter College, City University of New York)
- Dr. Michael Owens (Emory University)
- Dr. Daphne Spain (retired from University of Virginia, owner of 2nd Act Books)
This is the highest honor that the Urban Affairs Association grants to individuals who have been inducted into the Distinguished Service Honor Roll and continued to fulfill meaningful service roles within UAA after their induction.
Selected recipients are individuals who have distinguished themselves in one or more of the following areas: 1) Exceptional and impactful service to the Urban Affairs Association; 2) Engagement outside the academy; and/or 3) Distinguished professional service that advances the work of urban affairs practitioners. The professional careers of all of this year’s recipients and the breadth of their service to UAA touch on all three areas. They have created a legacy of research, teaching, service, and mentorship that is exemplary.
AWARD RECIPIENT BIOS
Sabina Deitrick is Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and also Co-Director of the Urban and Regional Analysis research program at the University Center for Social and Urban Research (UCSUR) at the University of Pittsburgh. Professor Deitrick teaches courses and conducts research in the areas of economic and community development, urban planning, and regional policy, with an emphasis on regional restructuring, revitalization and brownfields redevelopment. She received her PhD in city and regional planning at the University of California at Berkeley.
Edward Goetz is professor of urban and regional planning at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, and director of the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs at the University of Minnesota. Goetz’ research focus is on housing and community development as it relates to racial equity and social justice. He is the author of multiple books about housing policy in the U.S. Goetz received his PhD in Political Science from Northwestern University in 1987.
Jill Simone Gross earned her PhD in Political Science at the CUNY Graduate Center and an MSc in British Government from the London School of Economics. She is a Professor of Urban Policy and Planning at Hunter College, City University of New York where she serves as the Director of Hunter’s graduate program in Urban Policy and Leadership. She has taught at Barnard College, Columbia University, New York University, Sciences Po Bordeaux, Brooklyn College and Queens College. Dr. Gross has served two terms as governing board chair at UAA and worked with countless committees taking a particular focus on internationalizing the UAA. She has served on the organizing and programming committees for UAA joint conferences with EURA, including UAA’s Conference in New York (2024) & City Futures Chicago (2004), Paris (2014), and Dublin (2019). As a Fulbright Schumann Scholar (2011), Dr. Gross researched urban governance in West European cities. Her more recent research and publications explore urban & regional governance of economic development and migration in North American, European and Chinese cities. As a community-facing scholar and educator, she has worked collaboratively with students, CBOs, city, and state governments in New York. In 2020 she joined UAA’s service honor roll.
Michael Leo Owens earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from the State University of New York at Albany. He is Professorof Political Science at Emory University and the recipient of its 2023 Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award (Social Sciences). His books include Deadly Force: Police Shootings in Urban America and God and Government in the Ghetto: The Politics of Church-State Collaboration in Black America. His peer-reviewed articles appear in a range of journals (e.g., Journal of Politics, Nature Human Behaviour, Urban Studies, Journal of Urban Affairs, and Urban Affairs Review). Media (e.g., The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, National Public Radio, and Full Frontal with Samantha Bee) have shared his scholarly insights with global audiences. A former member, vice chair, and chair of the UAA governing board, his service record includes board memberships with the Georgia Justice Project, Prison Policy Initiative, and Foreverfamily (née Aid to Children of Imprisoned Mothers). He is an associate editor of the Journal of Urban Affairs, a corresponding editor of Urban Studies, and editorial board member of Politics, Groups, and Identities and the Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and the City. UAA placed his name on its Distinguished Service Honor Roll in 2020.
Daphne Spain is the owner of 2nd Act Books, which she opened following her retirement from the University of Virginia after thirty years of teaching. She was the James M. Page Professor in the Department of Urban and Environmental Planning. Dr. Spain was the first woman to earn tenure in her department. Dr. Spain received her B.A. in sociology from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, followed by an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She served on the editorial board of the Journal of Planning Education and Research and the Journal of the American Planning Association. She became a Russell Sage Foundation Visiting Scholar in 1995 and was awarded the Cavalier’s Distinguished Teaching Professorship in 2013. Her books include Constructive Feminism: Building Women’s Rights into the City, Gendered Spaces, and How Women Saved the City.
AWARD PRESENTATION
The formal presentation of this award will be made at the upcoming International Conference on Urban Affairs in Vancouver, BC, Canada, at the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre. The theme of this year’s conference is Urban Concentration: Challenges to Equity, Mobility, and Sustainability. The conference will convene over 900 participants from 55+ countries and representing 20+ fields of study. All award recipients will be formally recognized for their achievements during the Awards and Recognition Program on April 16, 2025; 3:00–4:15pm.
AWARD COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Robert Silverman, University at Buffalo (Chair); Robert Collins, Dillard University; Elsie Harper-Anderson, Virginia Commonwealth University; Gordana Rabrenovic, Northeastern University; Gregory Squires, George Washington University
ABOUT THE URBAN AFFAIRS ASSOCIATION
The Urban Affairs Association (UAA) is an international professional organization for 1000+ urban scholars, researchers, policy analysts, & public service providers. UAA is dedicated to creating interdisciplinary spaces for engaging in intellectual and practical discussions about urban life. Through theoretical, empirical, and action-oriented research, UAA fosters diverse activities to understand and shape a more just and equitable urban world.
In addition to hosting an annual conference, UAA sponsors ongoing professional development opportunities; Upsilon Sigma: The Urban Studies Honor Society; and two peer-reviewed journals, the Journal of Urban Affairs and the Journal of Race, Ethnicity and the City. You can find UAA on the web, LinkedIn, Bluesky, Facebook, and X.
