Jason Reece

• Emailreece.35@osu.edu
• Office
  Columbus, OH 43210

Dr. Jason Reece’s research seeks to understand the role of planning in fostering a built and social environment which supports a just city and healthy communities. He is a community-engaged scholar, collaborating directly with local community leaders in co-creating knowledge that serves our community.

A faculty member at the Knowlton School, his work on planning history and civil rights has focused on the historical and contemporary role of exclusionary land-use policy and its impact on contemporary urban inequality. His work in health equity seeks to understand the role of housing and community development in supporting both physical and mental health in marginalized communities. At the Knowlton School, Dr. Reece teaches courses in equity planning, community development, land-use law, planning theory and planning history.

His role as vice provost focuses on building support systems and relationships to support community-engaged scholarship in central Ohio’s urban communities. Working on behalf of the Office of Academic Affairs, he collaborates with internal and external stakeholders to create a strategic vision for academic partnership with Ohio State’s local communities. He contributes to the university’s strategic focus area in external engagement, which seeks to forge strong, mutually beneficial connections with external communities. In this capacity, he manages Ohio State’s Office of Outreach and Engagement, which includes our seed grant program, symposia, professional development programming and awards.

Prior to joining the Knowlton School faculty, he worked in both academic and public sector roles. Most recently he was the interim executive director, senior associate director and director of research for the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at The Ohio State University. In addition to leading the Institute’s research portfolio, he acted as an advisor and capacity builder to foundations, nonprofits, community organizations and government agencies in more than 30 states. He has also worked as a regional planner for the Northwest Michigan Council of Governments and as a planning and GIS specialist for Ohio State University extension.