Hilary Malson (she/her) is a research faculty fellow with the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) and an assistant professor of urban and regional planning at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. She is a planning and geography scholar whose research examines grassroots planning, housing justice, and socio-spatial inequalities in racially diverse suburbs. Her scholarship is analytically grounded in Black feminist thought, and she integrates a historical lens into much of her work. Additionally, she enjoys collaborating with grassroots groups and organizations that work towards spatial justice, and she regularly contributes to their research, advocacy, and capacity-building efforts.
Malson earned a PhD in Urban Planning at UCLA, an MSc in Urbanisation and Development at LSE, and a BA in the Growth and Structure of Cities at Bryn Mawr College. She holds years of practice experience in community settings, having worked for a community development corporation in Philadelphia and by contributing to community organizing work in Southern California and Washington, D.C. Malson also has a professional background in public history: she has held research positions at the Smithsonian Institution and the Library Company of Philadelphia and has authored original public scholarship for outlets including Monument Lab and Encyclopedia Virginia.
