RSPP Special Issue Award

For the Best Special Issue Editors in Regional Science Policy and Practice

RSPP Special Issue Award aims to stimulate the quality of an enlarged editorial team focused in the edition of Special Issues.

RSPP Special Issue Award prizes the special issues with more than seven papers, published two years before based on their citations per paper and the judgement of a jury composed by three Fellows, the President and the Immediate Past President.

Winners 2024

Following the rules of the RSPP Special Issue Award the recipients of the RSPP Special Issue Award in 2024 based on the special published in 2022 and approved by the Jury composed by by Hans Westlund, Eduardo Haddad, David Plane, Bruce Newbold, Philip McCann and Neil Reid are:

We are sad to relay news of the passing of our friend and colleague, Emeritus Professor Harry H. Kelejian. After earning his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin in 1968, Harry Kelejian embarked on a distinguished academic career with great accomplishments. Subsequent to holding positions as an Assistant Professor at Princeton University and as an Associate Professor at New York University, he joined the Department of Economics at the University of Maryland as a Full Professor in 1974. Harry Kelejian greatly contributed to the success of the Department for more than three decades with his influential research, teaching, and service. He retired in 2008 and was awarded the status of Professor Emeritus. He maintained an active research agenda during all of his retirement. 

Harry Kelejian worked on a broad range of research topics in theoretical and applied econometrics. For the last three decades his work has focused on spatial and social network econometrics. He was among those econometricians who very early on recognized the importance of developing methods of inference for networks, and he shaped this developing interdisciplinary field with fundamental contributions. Over his career Harry Kelejian published over eighty articles. This includes six articles in Econometrica, seven in the Journal of Econometrics, two in the Journal of the American Statistical Association, four in the International Economic Review, as well articles in other leading journals which include the Review of Economic Studies, etc.  Harry Kelejian also published two textbooks, one of which was translated into three languages. His contributions have received more than 14000 citations, including two articles receiving more than 2000 citations, which attests to the importance and influence of his work. Harry Kelejian also served on a number of editorial boards of important journals and as guest editor of several volumes.

In recognition of his contribution to spatial econometrics Harry Kelejian was invited to be one of the founding members of the Spatial Econometric Association, and he was elected as a Fellow of the Regional Science Association International. Harry Kelejian has been a visiting professor at several universities and academic institutions abroad and a keynote speaker at international conferences, which further attests to his international visibility.

At the University of Maryland Harry Kelejian taught mostly graduate econometrics courses. He was a dedicated teacher, winning several teaching awards. Throughout his career he was also a dedicated Ph.D. advisor. At the University of Maryland he supervised 6 dissertations as the main advisor, and was an important advisor on a number of other dissertations.  At Princeton Harry Kelejian was the second reader on the dissertation committee of James Heckman, who received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2000. In an interview James Heckman states that “Kelejian taught me a lot of econometrics”. Harry Kelejian was also a fun and considerate colleague, and especially appreciated as an influential and very generous mentor and friend to the junior colleagues in his field.

Any former students and faculty who would like to know more about events to honor
Harry Kelejian should write to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

CALL FOR PROFESSOR POSITIONS IN PLANNING (ALL LEVELS)

Izmir Institute of Technology, Turkiye, Department of Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage is looking for international Assistant/Associate/Full Professor candidates (Non-Turkish citizens) to be employed in research and teaching activities.

Candidates must have

1)  PhD degree related to Conservation of Historic Sites (Historic Urban Sites, Historic Towns and Cultural Landscapes)

2)  Strong record of international publications

Please send your CV to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (Prof. Dr. Mine Turan, Department Chair) for an initial screening.

Dear Colleagues,

I hope you're doing well. I am letting you know about a job opportunity that has recently opened up at my center. We are looking for a Regional Economist to join our economic and policy team at the Weldon Cooper Center at the University of Virginia. The role involves working with forecasts, input-output analysis, and other regional economic methods. As a public policy center, we combine state-of-the-art research with applied work that is meaningful to communities and provides insights for decision-makers.

If you or someone in your network is interested, you can find all the details and application information here: Regional Economist Position - University of Virginia.

Please pass this along to anyone who might be interested.

Thanks for your help. If you have any questions or know someone who wants to learn more, feel free to let me know.

Best regards,

Joao-Pedro Ferreira
Regional Economist and Lecturer

University of Virginia
Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service

coopercenter.org/

The Regional Research Institute (RRI) at West Virginia University seeks applications for a Research Assistant Professor (RAP) with an 11-month annual appointment who will report to the RRI Director. 

The RAP will help conduct regional economic research on a wide range of topics relevant to the West Virginia University land grant mission. The qualified individual will be responsible for economic and statistical analyses using a variety of data sources and in developing manuscripts and presentations for use in disseminating the results to both academic and public audiences. The RAP will also supervise graduate and undergraduate students and develop new research projects and writing proposals for external funding. The RAP will have opportunities to collaborate with scholars at WVU and internationally, to attend conferences, and for networking.

More details can be found here: https://wvu.taleo.net/careersection/faculty/jobdetail.ftl?job=24692&tz=GMT-04%3A00&tzname=America%2FNew_York

Fabio Sforzi is the recipient of the 2024 AECR award

The Spanish Association of Regional Science (AECR) has proposed to express its maximum recognition to Fabio Sforzi by awarding him the AECR Prize for Regional Science 2024. Fabio will also become a permanent honorary member of the Association and will be part of the Advisory Council of the President of the Association.

The Award will be presented at the forthcoming AECR annual meeting, which will take place in Cuenca from October 16 to 18, 2024.

https://aecr.org/es/novedad/premio-de-ciencia-regional-de-la-aecr-2024-fabio-sforzi/

Congratulations to Prof. Sforzi from the whole Regional Science community!