Rachel Meltzer
Board Member 2023-2025

Rachel Meltzer is the Plimpton Associate Professor of Planning and Urban Economics in Harvard University’s Urban Planning program and is on the core faculty of the Master in Real Estate degree program.  She teaches classes on urban economics, public and private development, and policy analysis.  Dr. Meltzer’s research and teaching sit at the intersection of urban economics, planning and policy with a special interest in urban neighborhoods and real estate markets.  Most recently, her work has focused on economic resilience in the face of extreme events and commerce and retail services in cities.  Dr. Meltzer has published research articles in top urban economics, real estate, urban studies, and public finance journals and has also co-authored a textbook, Policy Analysis as Problem Solving: A Flexible and Evidence-Based Framework (Routledge 2018), which provides an interdisciplinary and pragmatic approach to evidence-based decision making for addressing public problems.   

Before joining Harvard, Dr. Meltzer was Associate Professor of Urban Policy and Chair of the Public and Urban Policy M.S. Degree program at the Milano School of Policy, Management and Environment at The New School.  She is also a Research Affiliate at the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy at New York University. Dr. Meltzer earned her doctorate in Public Policy and M.P.A. from New York University and a B.A. in Psychology and Mathematics from Dartmouth College.