College research center honors scholar with inaugural award

A career marked by groundbreaking urban development research findings netted [Ann O’M. Bowman] (https://bush.tamu.edu/faculty/abowman/) , Texas A&M professor of government and public service, the inaugural Transformative Research Award from the university’s [Center for Housing and Urban Development] (http://chud.arch.tamu.edu/) .

The center, housed in the Texas A&M College of Architecture, is a research hub for “green” housing and communities that feature vibrant economies, offer a choice of housing and transportation modes, and are close to jobs, schools, shopping, and recreation.

“I can think of no one more deserving of the center’s first Transformative Research Award,” said Galen Newman, CHUD director and an associate professor in the Texas A&M [Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning] (http://laup.arch.tamu.edu/) . “Bowman’s body of work has been extremely influential in my career as well as many others in related fields. I am delighted to present her with this small token of appreciation from CHUD as a thank you for all of her amazing work.”

Bowman, who holds the Hazel Davis and Robert Kennedy Endowed Chair of Government and Public Justice, has a significant urban research legacy that includes substantive advancements in state and local politics and management, public policy, environmental and economic development, land use policy, and intergovernmental relations.

In her book “ [Terra Incognita: Vacant Land And Urban Strategies] (http://press.georgetown.edu/book/georgetown/terra-incognita) ,” Bowman and co-author Michael Pagano broke new ground by showing how vacant urban land can be a valuable strategic asset for communities, not just a source of blight.

“It’s a pioneering work of literature, in many ways spurring the entire movement of urban regeneration as its own unique field of research,” said Newman.

In the book, Bowman and Pagano conducted a then-unprecedented survey that revealed the amount and diversity of vacant land in all U.S. of communities with a population greater than 50,000, then created a model based on their survey findings for communities to create priority-based, strategic land use decisions.

In “ [State and Local Government: The Essentials] (https://www.amazon.com/State-Local-Government-Ann-Bowman/dp/1285737482) ,” Bowman and co-author Richard Kearney foster student interest and involvement in state and local politics, policy and public service by demonstrating that government can be a force for good in society, while simultaneously addressing critics of their position.

Her work has also been published in leading scholarly journals including Urban Affairs Review, Public Administration Review, Policy Studies Journal, Political Research Quarterly, Cities, American Review of Public Administration, and Journal of Politics.

Her numerous awards and honors include the Lincoln Government Fellowship, a Fulbright Award, the Donald Stone Award for Research and the [Daniel Elazar Distinguished Scholar Award] (https://bush.tamu.edu/news/index.php/newsletter/story/2720) .

Bowman has also served as a member of the National Academy of Public Administration, headed the Southern Political Science Association and was recently elected to a three-year term on the Executive Council of the American Political Science Association.

Richard Nira
rnira@arch.tamu.edu