Eaech year, the Economic Development Division solicits applications for the Holzheimer Memorial Student Scholarship for Economic Development Planning. Winners are announced ahead of the APA National Planning Conference.
We are pleased to announce the winner of the 2024 EDD Holzheimer Memorial Student Scholarship. Kareem El-Sisi of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) submitted the winning paper, titled "Growing Without Compromising: A Circular Approach to Sustainable Economic Development."
The scholarship is named in memory of longtime APA member and economic development visionary, Dr. Terry Holzheimer of Arlington County, Virginia and Virginia Tech. The $2,000 award is a scholarship provided by the APA’s Economic Development Division. Winners are strongly encouraged but not required to use the award money to support attendance at the APA National Planning Conference on April 13-16, 2024. The application materials should include an original student paper or work that is 2,500 words or less (including citations and footnotes), and must include the name and contact information of a faculty member involved in supervising the student and/or the submitted work. The application form is available below.
Due to the word limit, submissions may reflect adaptations of original student work, including theses, term papers, capstones, and studio projects. Works based on collaborations with faculty (e.g., as a research assistant) are only acceptable if this work is student-led, meaning that the student initiated the idea and finished the majority of the work, and is the first author of this work; the collaborative faculty member’s name and contact information must be provided. Group submissions are allowed, although it is expected that one or two students will take responsibility for the submission and represent the group should the submission be chosen as the winner. If a group submits a project, all group members must be enrolled students of the accredited planning program, or APA student/early career members; exceptions for non-planning students or non-APA member co-authors may be granted at the discretion of the scholarship committee.
The submission should speak to planning practitioners about a substantive topic related to economic development. We welcome submissions that focus broadly on the topic of economic development, which we define in terms of enhancing community, urban and regional economic prosperity, inclusion and resilience. Submissions regarding non-United States cases are permitted, but applicants are strongly encouraged to speak directly to their relevance for the EDD audience, which is predominantly based in the US.
The winning paper or project will satisfactorily demonstrate the following: topical relevance to economic development practitioners with a clear discussion of why practitioners should care about the findings; soundness of empirical methods; quality writing; and originality and creativity.
The committee reserves the right to withhold the award should no submissions comply with these criteria. The winner will be notified in February and the scholarship will be presented at APA's National Planning Conference on April 13-16, 2024.
The paper will be published on the Economic Development Division website and distributed electronically to EDD members in the News & Views newsletter; the winning author(s) may be asked to revise their submission prior to publication.
Kerry Fang, Committee Chair
Assistant Professor, Department of Urban and Regional Planning
Florida State University
lfang3@fsu.edu
The Economic Development Division annually solicits applications for the Holzheimer Memorial Student Scholarship for Economic Development Planning. Master's-level students enrolled in or recently graduated from PAB-accredited planning programs, or other current student or recently graduated APA early-career members, are eligible to apply. The application system generally opens in late November, with the deadline in January (subject to change).
The scholarship is named in memory of longtime APA member and economic development visionary, Dr. Terry Holzheimer of Arlington County, Virginia and Virginia Tech. The $2,000 award is a scholarship provided by the APA's Economic Development Division. Winners are strongly encouraged, but not required, to use the award money to support attendance at the APA National Planning Conference. The application materials should include an original student paper or work that is 2,500 words or less (including citations and footnotes), and must include the name and contact information of a faculty member involved in supervising the student and/or the submitted work.