Dr. Ivis García (Texas A&M University) has been selected to receive the 2026 Best Reviewer for the Journal of Urban Affairs Award. Dr. García is the first recipient of this new annual award.
The Journal of Urban Affairs and the Journal of Race, Ethnicity and the City publish approximately 130 articles a year. These articles emerge from a rigorous review process of more than 800 submitted manuscripts. This award was created to recognize the contributions of exceptional reviewers, who play the essential role of evaluating the quality and relevance of each manuscript.
AWARD COMMITTEE ASSESSMENT
The committee is delighted to recognize Dr. Ivis García for the quality, timeliness, and quantity of her review of manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Urban Affairs. Her service as a reviewer for the journal demonstrates both her expertise and extraordinary dedication to urban scholarship.
FINALISTS / RUNNERS-UP
The committee has the distinct pleasure of sharing that the following individuals were selected as finalists based on the number of reviews requests and completions as well as low average turnaround times.
- Pierre Filion, University of Waterloo
- Rachel Kleit, The Ohio State University
- Eric Stokan, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
- Elvin Wyly, University of British Columbia
AWARD RECIPIENT BIO
Dr. Ivis García is an Associate Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning at Texas A&M University. Her work focuses on housing justice, disaster recovery, community development, and equitable planning, with a strong emphasis on participatory methods and community-engaged research. Dr. García’s scholarship examines how planning policies and practices affect vulnerable communities, particularly in the context of climate change, displacement, and housing insecurity.
Her research spans the United States and Puerto Rico and has been published in leading planning and housing journals. She collaborates closely with community organizations, public agencies, and interdisciplinary research teams to translate research into practical planning strategies that strengthen community resilience.
Dr. García currently serves as President of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP), where she works to advance planning education, mentorship, and collaboration across planning schools worldwide. She is also actively involved in mentoring graduate students and emerging scholars and in building partnerships that connect planning education with real-world community challenges.
Through her teaching, research, and leadership, Dr. García is committed to advancing inclusive planning practices and preparing the next generation of planners to address complex social and environmental challenges.
FINALIST BIOS
Pierre Filion is a professor emeritus in the School of Planning at the University of Waterloo. Dr. Filion’s recent research work focuses on the obstacles to a smart growth inspired transformation of cities, as well as metropolitan scale planning models put forth in the plans of large North American metropolitan regions. More generally, his research projects have dealt with the relationship between transportation and land use, and with the impact of societal change on cities with a particular focus on values, the economy and institutions. More specific areas of research include downtowns, the changing structure of metropolitan regions and suburban centres. Pierre holds an M.A. in Political Science from Université Laval and a PhD. in Urban Studies from University of Kent, Canterbury.
Rachel Garshick Kleit, Ph.D., is Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs in the College of Engineering, Interim Director and Professors of City and Regional Planning in the Knowlton School of Architecture at the Ohio State University (OSU). She is also the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Planning Literature. Her research focus is on affordable housing and social inequality and has published widely in scholarly journals. Building on this research, she co-founded Families Flourish, a privately funded housing mobility program. In 2023, Columbus Business First named Dr. Kleit a Woman of Influence.
Dr. Kleit holds an MA in Urban and Environmental Policy from Tufts University and a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. From 2012-2018 she was the Section Head of the City and Regional Planning in the Knowlton School. Prior to coming to Ohio State, Dr. Kleit was on the faculty at the Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington. She has served UAA in many capacities and was placed on its honor roll in 2021.
Eric Stokan is the Wilson H. Elkins Associate Professor of Political Science, Faculty Affiliate in the School of Public Policy, and Director of the Center for Social Science Scholarship (CS3) at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. He also serves as Co-Director of the Metropolitan Governance and Management Transitions Lab at Indiana University Bloomington, where he works on collaborative, data-driven projects focused on public sector capacity, governance, and policy design. His research is at the intersection of public administration, urban policy, and computational social science, with a focus on how local governments navigate tradeoffs across community and economic development, social equity, and sustainability. He is currently exploring how capacities and vulnerabilities shape their AI decisions. His scholarly activities have received generous support from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, the Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation, and the Open Research Community Accelerator.
He has published 25 peer-reviewed articles in leading journals, including the Journal of Urban Affairs, Public Administration Review, and the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, among others. He currently serves on the editorial boards of Urban Affairs Review and State and Local Government Review.
Elvin Wyly is Professor of Geography at the Musqueam campus of the University of British Columbia, Canada. Research focuses on urban social and spatial inequality, particularly in U.S. and Canadian cities. Research has been supported by grants and contracts from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Fannie Mae Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation. Recent publications include articles in Dialogues in Urban Research, Dialogues in Human Geography, and Visual Studies, as well as a book co-authored with David Wilson: Dracula Urbanism and Smart City Mania: Urban Change in the Twenty-First Century (Routledge, 2026).
AWARD PRESENTATION
The formal presentation of this award will be made at the upcoming International Conference on Urban Affairs in Chicago, Illinois. The theme of this year’s conference is No Little Plans: Realizing Urban Futures in Times of Crisis. The conference will convene 1100+ participants from 55+ countries, representing 20+ fields of study. All award recipients will be formally recognized for their achievements during the Awards and Recognition Program on April 29, 2026; 3:00 – 4:15pm.
AWARD COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Bernadette Hanlon, The Ohio State University and Journal of Urban Affairs Editor (Committee Chair); Ali Modarres, University of Washington Tacoma and Journal of Race, Ethnicity and the City Editor; Casey Wagner, Urban Affairs Association and Managing Editor of Journal of Urban Affairs & Journal of Race, Ethnicity and the City.
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; a book series, Rights to the City, 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.
