SAN LUIS OBISPO — Cynthia Jackson-Elmoore, Cal Poly’s provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs, is one of 16 individuals inducted into the Urban Affairs Association (UAA) Distinguished Service Honor Roll.
The Distinguished Service Honor Roll was established in 2013 to recognize the organizations’ most impactful service leaders. The association recognized Jackson-Elmoore for her over 20 years of service to the Urban Affairs Association. She was elected to the governing board of the UAA, served on the Bylaws Committee, and was senior associate editor of the Journal of Urban Affairs for nearly 10 years.
“I am humbled to have been selected for this honor and to be recognized along with my colleagues — with whom I have been proud to serve alongside, and whose collective contributions to the field and the association I truly respect,” Jackson-Elmoore said. “It has been a pleasure to be engaged in urban studies throughout my academic career, and I appreciate the work of the UAA in support of the field.
“Since arriving at Cal Poly, it has been a pleasure to learn about the teaching, learning, scholarship and outreach undertaken by faculty, staff and students that impact a myriad of communities and has important implications for addressing urban issues.”
Prior to joining Cal Poly in 2020, Jackson-Elmoore held administrative and academic positions at Michigan State University as dean of the Honors College and as a professor with affiliations in social work and the global urban studies program. She was acting assistant dean of the Urban Affairs Programs, director of the Urban Studies Graduate Program, and co-director of the Program in Urban Politics and Policy at MSU. She served on the Public Policy Committee of the Michigan American Council on Education Women’s Network and on the Faculty Board of Advisors for MSU’s Community Economic Development Program.
Jackson-Elmoore has conducted evaluations on community health care reform and published journal articles, books, and book chapters on the governance role of nonprofit organizations in urban settings, brownfields, health, and the built environment, privatization of municipal services, community participation in local health planning processes, and engagement in state and local policy processes.
The UAA is the international professional organization for urban scholars, researchers, and public/nonprofit service providers. UAA is dedicated to creating interdisciplinary spaces for engaging in intellectual and practical discussions about urban life. Through theoretical, empirical, and action-oriented research, the UAA fosters diverse activities to understand and shape a more just and equitable urban world. UAA also sponsors Upsilon Sigma – The Urban Studies Honor Society, an international, multidisciplinary honor society dedicated to recognizing and encouraging excellence in scholarship, leadership, and engagement in urban studies and related fields.
