Norman Fainstein is Chair and Professor of Sociology at Connecticut College, where he is completing a long academic career as an administrator and a scholar. In recent years he was President of Connecticut College, and before that the chief academic officer at Vassar College. He has also served as a Dean of Faculty at City University of New York (CUNY) and was an active member of the faculties of CUNY, the New School and Columbia University. He has published several books and numerous scholarly articles on urban history and politics, city and regional planning, economic development, race, social movements and public policy. Among his recent awards, was a Rockefeller Foundation fellowship to the Bellagio Study Center. Professor Fainstein studied physics and political science as an undergraduate and received a Ph.D. in political science with highest distinction at MIT.