Announcing the 2022 Meyer Dissertation Fellows
CAMBRIDGE, MA - Three Harvard doctoral students have been named 2022 John R. Meyer Dissertation Fellows by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies:
Aisha Densmore-Bey, a Doctor of Design candidate at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, is a designer, artist, writer, and filmmaker studying the ways that artists of color have shaped development in some African-American neighborhoods. The Meyer Fellowship will support her dissertation, The Artist-Developer: A case study of impact through art-centered development in African-American neighborhoods. Densmore-Bey received a BA in Architecture from the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University and a Masters Degree in Strategic Design and Management from the Parsons School of Design – The New School.
Valentine Gilbert, a PhD candidate in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, is studying housing affordability and how housing costs determine access to other urban amenities, such as high-quality schools, safety, green space, public transit, and upward economic mobility. The Meyer Fellowship will support The Effects of New Housing on Urban Affordability: Where and What to Build, a paper he is writing with Robert French that will be part of his doctoral dissertation. Gilbert received a BA in Economics from the University of Rochester.
Sean Lee, a PhD candidate in Economics, is studying household behavior in housing and mortgage markets and how that behavior impacts the broader economy. The Meyer Fellowship will support Macroeconomic Effects of Mortgage Forbearance: Evidence from the CARES Act, a paper he is writing with Omeed Maghzian that will be part of his doctoral dissertation. Lee received a BA in Mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania and a BS in Finance and Statistics from The Wharton School.
Meyer Fellows receive a stipend from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies and access to the Center’s resources and interdisciplinary network of scholars and practitioners. Fellows are expected to produce a working paper and to present their work in a Housing Research Seminar at the Center.
The fellowship honors the memory of the late John R. Meyer, who chaired the Center's Faculty Committee from 1997 to 2003 and served as its Interim Director from 1996 to 1998. One of the leading urban economists of his generation, Meyer was the James W. Harpel Professor of Capital Formation and Economic Growth at the Harvard Kennedy School. He also served as president of the National Bureau of Economic Research, as a professor at Harvard Business School, and as a professor of economics at both Harvard and Yale.
Media Contact: Kerry Donahue, (617) 495-7640, [email protected]