- Economist is Director at Ford Foundation's Metropolitan Opportunity Program
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 20, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- George W. "Mac" McCarthy, an economist at the Ford Foundation dedicated to improving conditions in metropolitan areas worldwide, has been named the 5th president of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
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Beginning July 1, McCarthy, 57, will succeed Gregory K. Ingram, who is retiring after serving as president since 2005. McCarthy will bring new vision and a fresh perspective to the Cambridge-based think tank as it continues to promote dialogue and sound land use policy in the U.S. and around the world, said Kathryn J. Lincoln, chair of the board of directors at the Lincoln Institute.
"He is visionary and energetic, and his leadership will be transformational," said Lincoln.
"This is a pivotal and important time for cities around the world. The Lincoln Institute plays a unique and extremely important role in identifying the central importance of land policies, across a range of social and economic challenges," said McCarthy. "The story of opportunity is told in how we organize ourselves spatially. Without an effective response, we will double the one billion people living in unplanned settlements around the world's cities in the next thirty years. Land use decisions made today will dictate the life chances of generations to come."
As director of Metropolitan Opportunity at the Ford Foundation, McCarthy supported collaborative regional efforts to overcome the social, economic and spatial isolation of disadvantaged populations living in and around metropolitan areas worldwide. Prior to joining the Ford Foundation in 2000, he was a senior research associate at the Center for Urban and Regional Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has worked as professor of economics at Bard College; resident scholar at the Jerome Levy Economics Institute; visiting scholar and member of the High Table at King's College of Cambridge University; visiting scholar at the University of Naples, Italy; and research associate at the Centre for Independent Social Research in St. Petersburg, Russia.
The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, founded in 1974, is a leading resource for key issues concerning the use, regulation, and taxation of land. Providing high-quality education and research, the Lincoln Institute strives to improve public dialogue and decisions about land policy.