Charlie Santo
Associate Professor, Department Chair
Education
- B.A., Washington and Lee University
- M.U.R.P., Virginia Commonwealth University
- Ph.D., Portland State University
Charlie Santo is an associate professor and Chair of the Department of City & Regional Planning, where he has been teaching since 2005. Charlie earned a BA in Politics from Washington and Lee University, a Master's of Urban and Regional Planning from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a Ph.D. in Urban Studies from Portland State University. He is the recipient of the University of Memphis College of Arts & Science Distinguished Research Award for Engaged Scholarship. Charlie teaches courses that focus on urban economic analysis, public finance and planning, and planning research methods. He is the co-editor of Sport and Public Policy: Social, Economic, and Political Perspectives and the author of multiple articles on public investment and urban revitalization that have appeared in the Journal of Urban Affairs, the Journal of Planning Education and Research, and Community Development. Before entering academia, Charlie worked as a principal planner for housing and neighborhood preservation with the City of Richmond, Virginia, where he coordinated the implementation of the city's innovative Neighborhoods in Bloom program, which has been recognized with the HUD Secretary's Opportunity and Empowerment Award. His recent work on art-based community development in the Soulsville USA neighborhood has been internationally recognized and has generated substantial local investment by ArtPlace and the Kresge Foundation.