Kathryn A. Foster

Associate Professor

office: Beck Hall
phone: 716.829.3777
email: kafoster@buffalo.edu

Education

B.A. (geography), Johns Hopkins University
M.C.P., University of California, Berkeley
Ph.D. (public and international affairs), Princeton University

Courses

Dr. Foster’s teaching interests span undergraduate and graduate courses including an undergraduate course, Urban and Environmental Planning; a graduate foundational elective, Economic Concepts and Contexts; and a course for graduates culminating their degree with a professional project, Master's Project Preparation.

Research

Dr. Foster’s research focuses on issues of governance, regions, regionalism, intergovernmental and intersectoral (public, private, nonprofit, academic) relations, and regional history, politics, and policy. She is currently working on a book examining various governance systems -- including metropolitan regions, the European Union, the National Football League, and the University of California system -- and their effectiveness in achieving goals of equity, economy, and community. Dr. Foster is also interested in questions of regional identity, decisionmaking, and leadership.

Public service

Dr. Foster actively engages in public service, conducting applied research on the Buffalo-Niagara region and working with metropolitan regions deliberating governance choices. She was founding director of research for the UB Institute for Local Governance and Regional Growth, where she continues to assist production of State of the Region: Performance Indicators for the Buffalo-Niagara Region in the 21st Century, an ongoing effort to measure, monitor, and set goals and action steps for regional performance. Recent and upcoming service activities include lectures and workshop participation for groups including the Worcester (MA) Regional Research Bureau and the Portland (OR) metro region.

Selected publications

  • State of the Region: Performance Indicators for the Buffalo-Niagara Region in the 21st Century (2003, 2000, 1999). Buffalo, NY: UB Institute for Local Governance and Regional Growth
  • Regionalism on Purpose. (2001). Cambridge, MA: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
  • “Regional Capital.” (2000). In Urban-Suburban Interdependencies, edited by Rosalind Greenstein and Wim Wiewel. Cambridge, MA: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
  • “Metropolitan Governance Structure and Income Growth” (with Arthur C. Nelson). (1999). Journal of Urban Affairs Vol. 21, No. 3
  • The Political Economy of Special-Purpose Government. (1997). Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press

Selected activities, honors, awards

Fellow, World Academy of Art and Science; Governing Board Member, Urban Affairs Association; Editorial Board Member, Journal of the American Planning Association and State and Local Government Review