Darrel Ramsey-Musolf

Darrel Ramsey-Musolf is an Associate Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning at UMass Amherst. He has completed a PhD in Housing Policy and Analysis (University of Wisconsin-Madison), a Master of Urban and Regional Planning (Cal Poly Pomona), a Master of Public Administration (Suffolk University), and a Bachelor of Arts in Dance (UCLA). While at Cal Poly Pomona, he was co-chair of the Graduate Student Planning Association, received the California Planners' Roundtable and UCLA Hagman scholarships, and served on APA's Student Representatives Council representing Region VI. In April 2013, he proposed and moderated a session on affordable housing as part of APA's inaugural “Research Day” in Chicago. In 2004, he moderated the APA's Student Representatives Council “Careers” session. From 2019-2022, he served as a co-facilitator (w/ Michael Lens of UCLA) of the Junior Faculty of Color workshop, a mentorship group affiliated with the Persons of Color Interest Group which is a subcommittee of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning.

His research interests include Urban Morphology (i.e., cities, housing, infill, and redevelopment schemes), Regionalism (i.e., intergovernmental relations, urban containment), and Planning Praxis (i.e., tensions between private capital, public interest, and political will). However, the central question of his scholarship is thus, what has been the influence of California’s housing and planning laws on housing production? In his grants, he has received $73,200 in funding ($48,200 external, $25,000 internal

Regarding teaching and in the Regional Planning program, his courses have included Introduction to Land-Use, Planning Studio, and Housing Policy in the United States. In the Sustainable Community Development Program, his courses have included Race, Gender, Sexuality, and Equity; and Global Cities and Global Issues. He has chaired five completed masters degrees, co-chaired one undergraduate honors student, and mentored numerous graduate and undergraduate students. For service, he has served on his department’s Personnel Committee, the School of Behavioral Sciences’ Research Committee. He has also managed the curriculum self-assessment for the department’s 2018 Planning Accreditation Board self-assessment and was a board member for the UMass Amherst’s Institute for Social Science Research. Currently, he serves on the university’s Faculty Senate, Graduate Council, and Campus Planning Committee.

Professionally, he was a municipal planner for the California cities of Glendora and Hawaiian Gardens, a planning intern for the City of Pomona, and a graduate management intern for the City of Pasadena.