Jennifer Wolch, former William W. Wurster Dean of the College of Environmental Design. Photo by Keegan Houser.
Jennifer Wolch, former William W. Wurster Dean of the College of Environmental Design, and her husband, Michael Dear, share a deep desire to empower students. Throughout the course of two influential careers, the couple has brought their expertise and inspiration to students looking to plan healthier, greener, and more equitable neighborhoods, cities, and regions. Today, their commitment reaches far past the classroom.
“Michael grew up in a family of limited means and, without financial aid, he would have never been able to attend an undergraduate program, let alone pursue graduate studies,” says Wolch. “A fellowship also allowed me to pursue doctoral studies. So both of us knew very well the power that scholarships have to transform individuals’ lives and, by extension, our world.”
“We saw an important need, and we had the means to put our beliefs into action.… It’s up to us and people like us to step up.” — Jennifer Wolch
Wolch and Dear, both professors emeriti of city and regional planning, have supported numerous areas across campus, but their generosity is typified by the Dear-Wolch Social Planning Award. It provides graduate students with support that allows them to pursue their research — without the burden of finding funding on top of already busy, complex lives.
“We saw an important need and we had the means to put our beliefs into action. So we did,” says Wolch. “It’s up to us and people like us to step up.”
Award recipient and Ph.D. candidate Jeffrey Garnand says he had to balance his studies with a full-time job, childcare, and instruction. The fellowship freed him up to research an issue he has long been involved in as an activist: homelessness.
“I seek to engage policies and practices that are too often punitive toward those with little or no resources,” he says, adding that planning influences “the nexus of social, economic, political, and ethical factors that determine our society’s idea of acceptable and normative/non-normative use of public space.”
“It has been remarkable seeing Dear-Wolch Social Planning awardees do superb work to tackle critical issues everywhere, from Latin America to right here in California,” says Wolch. “We made sure the award was open enough to promote intellectual curiosity and the pursuit of diverse interests.”
