The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation named NYU’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy a recipient of the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. The award recognizes the center’s excellence in providing objective, policy-relevant research to address the challenges facing neighborhoods in New York City and across the nation.

Announced on Feb. 16, the award comes with a grant of $1 million, which the Furman Center will use to broaden its research and policy analysis to more national issues.

“We are humbled and honored that the Furman Center was selected for such a prestigious award,” says Vicki Been, faculty director of the center and a professor at NYU School of Law. “The demand for our work has grown dramatically with the housing crisis and the increasing need for sustainable and affordable housing across the country. This award presents a remarkable opportunity for us to expand our research beyond New York City to help policymakers in Washington and across the nation make more effective housing and community development investments and policies.”

The Furman Center was one of only 15 organizations from six countries to be recognized with the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. “From Chicago to Kampala, these extraordinary organizations demonstrate exceptional creativity and effectiveness,” says MacArthur President Robert Gallucci. “They provide new ways to address old problems. They generate provocative ideas and they reframe well-worn debates. And their impact is altogether disproportionate to their size.”

“Because we are based at New York University, and are a joint project of the NYU School of Law and the Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, we’re able to draw on the talents of a diverse team of faculty and students to produce rigorous, interdisciplinary research on urban policy issues,” says Furman Center Co-Director and Wagner professor Ingrid Gould Ellen. “The MacArthur Award comes at a critical time, allowing us to continue to expand the work we’ve always done in New York City to cities and neighborhoods across the country, and to address a broader range of national issues and public policy debates.”

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