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Lance Freeman, a scholar of urban housing and gentrification, is named the 29th Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor

Lance Freeman will become Penn's 29th Penn Integrates Knowledge University professor.

Interim President Wendell Pritchett and Interim Provost Beth Winkelstein announced that Freeman, a scholar of urban housing and gentrification, will serve as the James W. Effron University Professor in the PIK program, Penn Today reported. He will work in the Department of City and Regional Planning in the Weitzman School of Design and the Department of Sociology in the School of Arts & Sciences.

Former Penn President Amy Gutmann launched the Penn Integrates Knowledge program — which appoints faculty members whose work incorporates knowledge from least two Penn schools — in 2005. The James W. Effron University Professorship was also established in 2008 as a result of a gift from Craig W. Effron, a hedge fund partner who graduated Penn in 1981.

Freeman, who served as a Provost’s Distinguished Visiting Faculty Fellow last academic year, has authored dozens of scholarly works on the issues regarding housing policy, urban poverty, neighborhood change, and residential segregation. 

One of his books, "A Haven and a Hell: The Ghetto in Black America," won the 2020 Distinguished Book Award from the Columbia University Press. 

Freeman has also appeared on and written for a range of media platforms — including NPR, MSNBC, CNN, the BBC, and The Washington Post, Penn Today reported.

Winkelstein told Penn Today that Freeman embodies Penn's commitment to using interdisciplinary approaches to address real-world challenges.

“He has already had a powerful impact on our campus as the Provost’s Distinguished Visiting Faculty Fellow, and we are delighted to welcome him back to continue his work as our newest Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor," Winkelstein told Penn Today.