Associate Professor
Michael Oden received his Ph.D. in Economics from the New School for Social Research. Prior to joining The University of Texas, he worked at the Project on Regional and Industrial Economics at Rutgers University, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris, and as a senior economist on the Appropriations Committee of the Michigan State Senate. At the University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Oden served as the Associate Dean for Research and Operations at the School of Architecture and Director of the Community and Regional Planning Program from 2011-2017.
Dr. Oden's teaching and research areas include local and regional economic development, planning in the time of climate change, and definitions and concepts of equity and social justice in contemporary planning.
Dr. Oden has published widely in academic and professional venues on a range of economic development and planning topics. Some recent works include: “The salience of megaregional geographies for inter-metropolitan transportation planning and policy-making,” (Transportation Research Part D: Transportation and the Environment, 2020) with Gian Claudia Sciara; “The launch and evolution of a technology‐based economy: The case of Austin Texas,“ (Growth and Change, 2019) with David Gibson; ”Better is Better than More: Investigations into Qualitative Growth, International Journal of Sustainable Development, 2016), with Michael Benedikt. He is also a collaborator to the Texas Metro Observatory Project including “Socioeconomic and spatial change in 25 Texas MSAs”
Dr. Oden has received and number of teaching awards including two School of Architecture - Outstanding Teacher Awards and the Texas Excellence Teaching Award.
EDUCATION
- B.A. University of Texas at Austin, 1976
- Ph.D., New School for Social Research, New York, 1992
