Steven P. French

Steven P. French is a Professor of City & Regional Planning at Georgia Institute of Technology, affiliated with the College of Design. He has held leadership roles including Dean of the College of Design (2013–2021), Associate Dean for Research (2009–2013), and Director of the Center for Geographic Information Systems (1997–2011). His expertise spans natural hazards, sustainable development, land use planning, and GIS applications. French earned his Ph.D. in City & Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and previously taught at California Polytechnic State University and Stanford University as a Visiting Professor.

His research focuses on disaster resilience, urban sustainability, and infrastructure systems integration. He has advised over 50 Master’s students and graduated six Ph.D. students, with notable contributions to planning education and disaster risk assessment. French has led over 70 research projects, including NSF-funded studies on earthquake and flood hazards, and served as Social Science Thrust Leader for the Mid-America Earthquake Center. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners (FAICP).

French’s work bridges interdisciplinary collaboration between planners, engineers, and scientists. His recent projects emphasize leveraging big data and GIS for urban decision-making, sustainable infrastructure design, and analyzing urban health impacts. He has authored/co-authored over 25 journal articles and four books, contributing to journals like the Journal of the American Planning Association.