Rate My Professor Suzanne Moomaw

Suzanne Morse Moomaw is Chair and Associate Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning in the University of Virginia School of Architecture. She earned her Ph.D. and M.A. from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and her B.A. from the University of Alabama. Before joining UVA, Moomaw held senior roles in higher education administration, philanthropy, and served as president of the Pew Partnership for Civic Change, a national urban research organization, and director of programs at the Kettering Foundation. At UVA, she has served as Department Chair since 2021, Founding Director of the Community Design Research Center since 2014, Director of Undergraduate Studies, Interim Director of Real Estate and Design + Development, and Director of the University of Virginia Press from 2019 to 2022. She is a Trustee of the Kettering Foundation since 2000, where she has chaired the board and now serves on the Finance and Audit Committee. Moomaw was elected President of the Academy of Community Engagement Scholarship in 2024 and serves on the Governing Board of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning and as Faculty Board Member for the American Planning Association Virginia Chapter. She served on the National Academies Expert Committee on Pathways to Urban Sustainability from 2014 to 2016.

Moomaw's research specializes in post-industrial communities dependent on manufacturing, extraction, textiles, and agriculture, exploring economic revitalization through design and planning. Key projects include Cities Without Work: The Long Road from Boom to Bust, tracing 17 U.S. cities with high 1960 unemployment rates, supported by fellowships from the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, JFK Presidential Library, and LBJ Presidential Library; Bittersweet: Extant Sugar Towns and the New Cuba (University of Virginia Press, 2026), examining Cuban sugar economies and U.S. relations; and local efforts like Landscapes of Freedom, documenting post-emancipation communities in Albemarle County, Virginia, culminating in the exhibit Finding Virginia’s Freetowns (2022). Her publications include Smart Communities: How Citizens and Local Leaders Can Use Strategic Thinking to Build a Brighter Future (Jossey-Bass, 2014, second edition) and Renewing Civic Capacity: Preparing College Students for Service and Citizenship (ASHE-ERIC, 1989). In teaching, she leads community-engaged studios on neighborhood planning, housing, economic development, and issues like poverty and racial inequities. Awards include the Jefferson Scholars Foundation Award for Excellence in Teaching (2026), All-University Teaching Award (2015), Outstanding Faculty Award from Virginia APA (2017), Excellence in Teaching Abroad (2021), Shannon Fellow (2023), and Raven Society induction (2021). She has presented at the Aspen Ideas Festival, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and various U.S. communities.