Margaret E. Dewar, Ph.D., professor of urban and regional planning in the A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, will retire from active faculty status on May 31, 2017.

Professor Dewar received her A.B. degree from Wellesley College in 1970, her M.C.P. degree from Harvard University in 1974, and her Ph.D. degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1979. She joined the University of Michigan faculty as an assistant professor in 1988, and was promoted to associate professor in 1990, and professor in 1998. Professor Dewar was named the Emil Lorch Collegiate Professor of Architecture and Urban Planning from 2003-06. She served as chair of the Urban and Regional Planning Program from 1998-2004. She was the faculty director of the Detroit Community Partnership Center (1994-2017), the Ginsberg Center for Community Service and Learning (2005-10), and the Real Estate Development Certificate program (2009-17).

Professor Dewar is an internationally recognized scholar whose research focuses on the areas of economic development; housing and community development; urban environmental planning; and urban land use. Her principal interests include redevelopment in cities, planning for cities after abandonment, reuse of vacant and abandoned property, and evaluation of state and local economic development programs. Her research on federal efforts to save troubled industries and states' programs to revitalize depressed economies explains the political economy of program failures. Her research in Detroit pushes planners to do more to address the well-being of people in cities with shrinking employment and population. Professor Dewar has authored, coauthored or edited over 80 publications, and she has received more than $8.5 million in research funding. In addition to her inspiring teaching and numerous university and national academic professional activities, Professor Dewar's contribution as a faculty member has been in leadership of community-based research and learning. Through her commitment and dedication, Professor Dewar directed a significant expansion of the University's partnerships with lower-income communities.

The Regents now salute this distinguished faculty member by naming Margaret E. Dewar, professor emerita of urban and regional planning.