Associate Professor
Professor Robert Paterson specializes in land use and environmental planning. He has completed over 60 projects over the past 28 years at UT-Austin (through over $6 million in sponsored research grants, contracts, and awards), and was a recipient of a Faculty Fellow in Social Science Research Applied to Hazards and Disasters award through the National Science Foundation. Recent and ongoing research projects include grants and contracts with Lincoln Institute for Land Policy, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Meadows Foundation. Professor Paterson teaches graduate-level courses in Sustainable Land Use Planning, Environmental Impact Assessment, Sustainable and Disaster Resilient City Planning, and Plan Implementation.
Paterson is active in professional planning practice within Texas, providing multiple opportunities for professional development seminars and conferences for Texas APA planners. He has served on numerous state and regional planning advisory boards and task forces, the Texas APA Board as Awards Chair, and Education Foundation member. He has been the recipient of the School of Architecture’s Outstanding Lecturer and Community Service awards.
Presentations at academic and professional conferences in the past three years include The National Conference of the American Planning Association, the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning Conference, and the Association of European Schools of Planning Congress.
Dr. Paterson’s three most recent research projects are focused on better metrics for Scenario Planning for Sustainable Communities, Scenario Planning for Disaster Resilience, and Plan Implementation theory and practice.
EDUCATION
- B.A., Criminal Justice, Florida Atlantic University, 1984
- M.P.A., Growth Management, Florida Atlantic University, 1985
- Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1993
