Urban Fellows

Interdisciplinary Excellence

One of the unique strategic advantages of the Urban Institute is that it draws on the broad participation of SMU faculty and research staff from across all of our Colleges and Schools.

From the realms of economics, sociology, geography, to law and informatics, our Urban Fellows collectively represent a cross-section of knowledge that is critical in understanding, addressing, and solving the most pressing urban challenges of our time.

Urban Life

Picture of Orlando WOODS
Integrative Studies

Orlando WOODS

Director and Pillar Lead (Urban Life)

Professor of Geography

Picture of Paulin STRAUGHAN
Social Sciences

Paulin STRAUGHAN

Professor of Sociology (Practice)

Picture of Fiona WILLIAMSON
Integrative Studies

Fiona WILLIAMSON

Associate Professor of Environmental History

Picture of Aidan WONG
Integrative Studies

Aidan WONG

Assistant Professor of Urban Studies (Education)

Urban Growth

Picture of LI Jing
Economics

LI Jing

Pillar Lead (Urban Growth)

Associate Professor of Economics

Picture of FENG Guiyun
Business

FENG Guiyun

Assistant Professor of Operations Management

Picture of MA Lin
Economics

MA Lin

Assistant Professor of Economics

Picture of Edward TI
Law

Edward TI

Associate Professor of Law

Picture of Terry VAN GEVELT
Integrative Studies

Terry VAN GEVELT

Associate Professor of Urban Sustainability

Urban Infrastructure

Picture of Winston CHOW
Integrative Studies

Winston CHOW

Pillar Lead (Urban Infrastructure)

Professor of Urban Climate

Picture of Jason ALLEN
Law

Jason ALLEN

Associate Professor of Law

Picture of CHENG Shih-Fen
Computing & Information Systems

CHENG Shih-Fen

Associate Professor of Computer Science

Picture of Sayd RANDLE
Integrative Studies

Sayd RANDLE

Assistant Professor of Urban Studies

Picture of Helen ZHOU
Business

Helen ZHOU

Associate Professor of Operations Management

Econometrics Lead

Economics

LI Jia 

Lee Kong Chian Professor of Economics ​​​​

Policy Lead

Social Sciences

Ishani MUKHERJEE

Associate Professor of Public Policy​​​​