معرفی
Mildred Warner is a Professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning at Cornell University's College of Architecture, Art, and Planning. She also holds a professorship in the Department of Global Development and serves as Director of both the Polson Institute for Global Development and the Local Government Restructuring Lab. Her work focuses on restructuring local government services, planning for child- and age-friendly cities, and promoting environmental sustainability at the local level.
Warner received her B.A. in history from Oberlin College and her M.S. in agricultural economics and Ph.D. in development sociology from Cornell University. Her educational background bridges historical analysis, agricultural economics, and sociological approaches to development, providing a strong foundation for her interdisciplinary research.
As an international expert, Warner's research spans multiple domains including local government restructuring, fiscal stress, infrastructure planning, water management, and rural development. Her work on Latin America focuses on infrastructure, water, local fiscal stress, sustainability, and rural development. She has pioneered approaches to gender- and age-based planning, examining how communities can better meet the needs of both families with children and seniors wanting to age in place. Her research on sustainability explores how local governments can take leadership roles in promoting sustainable development beyond major cities.
Warner's recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on the intersection of public policy, urban planning, and social equity. Her work examines how local governments respond to crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, with particular attention to water affordability, public health interventions, and social safety nets. She has made significant contributions to understanding privatization and remunicipalization trends in municipal services, as well as the dynamics of age-friendly city planning across different cultural contexts.
Her notable research grants include:
- "Rivers, Rights and the Ecosystem of Urban Life," Global Strategic Collaboration Award, 2024
- "School Based Health Centers — An approach to address health disparities among rural youth," National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health, 2023–2028
- "Aging in Ecuador: Challenges for community planning," Global Strategic Collaboration Award, 2022–2024
- "Rural Population Change and Adaptation in the Context of Health, Economic, and Environmental Shocks and Stressors," USDA Hatch Multistate Project, 2022–2025
- "Universal Broadband Access: The Role of States and Localities," The Pew Charitable Trusts, 2022–2024
- "Local Government, Inequality and Rural Wellbeing" USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, 2021–2025
Warner works closely with local governments, planners, policy analysts, economic developers, and union leaders both in the U.S. and abroad. She has authored more than 200 journal articles, book chapters, and professional reports. Her teaching includes courses on devolution, privatization, new public management, economic and community development, and PhD research design.
She directs the Local Government Restructuring Lab, which profiles current research on how communities address challenges related to aging populations, families with young children, and sustainable development. Her "Planning Across Generations" project specifically addresses how communities can benefit from planning to meet the needs of both families with children and the aging population.
