Julian Wolpert (born 1932) is Bryant Professor Emeritus of Geography, Public Affairs, and Urban Planning at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School, where he taught from 1973 to 2005 and chaired the Program in Urban and Regional Planning. He was previously a member of the Regional Science Department at the University of Pennsylvania (1963–73).
Biography Wolpert is a 1953 graduate of Columbia University (BA) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, MS & PhD (geography). He served as a US Navy officer from 1956 to 1959. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and AAAS. He has been a fellow at the Russell Sage Foundation, the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral and Social Sciences, and the Woodrow Wilson Center and has been a Guggenheim fellow. Wolpert is a nationally cited scholar in the fields of location theory, urban development, migration, public and social services, and the analysis of charity, philanthropy, and the nonprofit sector, and has testified before Congress about the regulation of philanthropy. He has challenged conservatives who advocate for charitable rather than public service approaches to social policy. Wolpert served as vice president, then president of the Association of American Geographers and vice president of the Regional Science Association and the American Geographical Society and was elected to the American Institute of Certified Planners.
Wolpert was an early behaviorist (1960s) who demonstrated that producer and migrant decisions were affected differentially by imperfect information and environmental uncertainty. The analyses used operations research and multivariate statistical models of spatially sampled data. Later research focused on the migration decision, the relation between commuting and migration, siting and closing of amenity and "nimby" facilities, disaster evacuation, and the effects of sprawl on regional development. More recently, his studies concerned the nonprofit marketplace in cities, nonprofit service representation and saturation of neighborhoods, locational differences in generosity, distributional effects of foundations, the fiscal viability of nonprofits, and methods for planning and evaluating nonprofit organizations and foundations.
Selected publications
The Decision Process in Spatial Context, Annals, Association of American Geographers, 54 (1964).(reprinted and translated in 13 edited books) Behavioral Aspects of the Decision to Migrate, Papers, Regional Science Association, 15 (1964). (widely reprinted) Notes on Social Science Principles for World Law, Papers, Peace Research Soc., 2 (1964) (with Walter Isard). A Regional Simulation Model of Information Diffusion, Public Opinion Quarterly, 30 (1966). Migration as an Adjustment to Urban Stress, Journal of Social Issues, 22 (1966). Distance and Directional Bias in Inter urban Migratory Streams, Annals, Association of American Geographers, 57 (1967). Learning to Cooperate, Papers, Peace Research Soc., 7 (1967). Coalition Structures in the Three people Non zero-sum Game, Papers, Peace Research Soc., 8 (1967). The Basis for Stability of Inter regional Transactions, Geographical Analysis, 1 (1969). Interdependence between Commuting and Migration, Proceedings, Association of American Geographers, 1 (1969). Departures from the Usual Environment in Locational Analysis, Annals, Association of American Geographers, 60 (1970). The Sequential Expansion of a Decision Model in Spatial Context, Environment and Planning, 1 (1969) (with Dolf Zillman). A Strategy of Ambiguity in Locational Decisions (with John Seley), in K.R. Cox, et al.(eds.), Locational Approaches to Power and Conflict, Sage, 1972. The Transition to Interdependence in Locational Decisions (with Ralph Ginsberg), in K.R. Cox and R.G. Golledge (eds.), Behavioral Problems in Geography, Northwestern University Press, 1971. Time Paths of Migration Flows (with Lakshman Yapa), Geographical Analysis, 3 (1971). The Implementation of Controversial Hazard Control and Facility Complex Programs (with C. Murray Austin and Tony Smith), Geographical Analysis, 2 (1970). Interdependencies of Commuting, Migration and Job Site Relocation (with Lakshman Yapa and Mario Polese), Economic Geography (January 1971). A Decision Model for Locating Controversial Facilities (with Anthony Mumphrey and John Seley), Journal of the American Institute of Planners (November, 1971). Metropolitan Neighborhoods: Participation and Conflict Over Change (with Anthony Mumphrey and John Seley). Commission on College Geography, Association of American Geographers, Washington, D.C. (1972). Community Discretion Over Neighborhood Change (with Anthony Mumphrey and John Seley), National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council. Symposium on Geographical Perspectives and Urban Problems (July, 1971). Equity Considerations and Concessions in the Siting of Public Facilities (with Anthony J. Mumphrey), Economic Geography 49 (1973). The Middle East: Some Basic Issues and Alternatives, Ed. (with Walter Isard), Cambridge: Schoenkman (1972). From Asylum to Ghetto (with Eileen Wolpert), Antipode 6, #3 (1974). Satellite Mental Health Facilities (with Michael Dear and Randi Crawford) Annals, Association of American Geographers, 65 (1975) 24 35. Deconcentration of Community Mental Health Programs (with Randi Crawford) Regional Science Research Institute (1974). The Relocation of Released Mental Hospital Patients into Residential Communities (with Eileen Wolpert), Policy Sciences, Vol. 7 (1976) 31 51. The Siting of Mental Health Satellite Facilities: Demonstration of a Comparative Case Study Instrument (with Randi Crawford). Regional Science Research Institute (1975). Regressive Siting of Public Facilities, Natural Resources Journal, Vol. 16 (1976) 103 115. Opening Closed Spaces, Annals, Association of American Geographers 66 (1976) 1 13. Service Facility Representation in Urban Communities, Proceedings of the Joint U.S. Soviet Seminar on Urban Quality of Life, Moscow, 1975. Community Support Systems for Blind Deaf Adults, Proceedings of Southwestern Region Deaf-Blind Center, Sacramento, California 1976. Geography and the Scientific Technological Revolution, Proceedings of the International Geographic Union, Congress, Moscow, 1976. Community Support Systems for the Mentally Disabled, Horizon House Inst., Philadelphia, 1976. Accessibility of Human Services, Urban Resources Center Proceedings, Texas Southern University, 1976. Social Planning and the Mentally and Physically Handicapped. The Growing "Special Service" Populations, Center for Urban Policy Research Proceedings, Rutgers University, 1976. Social and Capital Infrastructure as Renewable and Non-Renewable Resources, National Research Council, Washington, D.C. 1976. Social Income and the Voluntary Sector, Papers, Regional Science Association, Vol. 39 (1977), pp. 217 229. Small Scale Residential Facilities for De hospitalized Mental Patients. Report to N.J. Dept. of Human Services, 1976. Community Based Residential and Human Service Facilities in N.J. Report to N.J. Dept. of Human Services (5 vols.), 1978. A System's Analysis and Evaluation of the Deinstitutionalization of N.J.'s Developmentally Disabled Population. Report to the Dept. of H.E.W., Office of Human Development (5 vols.), 1978. The Impact of Group Homes upon Residential Neighborhoods. Published by N.Y. State Office of MR and DD, Albany, 1978. Neighborhood Strategies in Federal, State and Local Housing Policies. Report prepared for the Conference on Residential Mobility and Public Policy, UCLA, Nov 1979. Community Response to Deinstitutionalized Patients, Journal of the National Association of Private Psychiatric Hospitals (1980). Equity and Location, in Equity Issues in Radioactive Waste Management, edited by Roger Kasperson and Robert Kates, OG & H Publ., Cambridge, Mass. 1980 (with John Seley. The Dignity of Risk, Transactions, Institute of British Geographers, 1980. The Non Profit Sector in the Metropolitan Economy, Economic Geography 57, No. 1, 1980, pp. 23 34. (with Thomas Reiner). Philanthropy in the Metropolitan Philadelphia Area, University of Pennsylvania, 1980, 130 pps. (with Thomas Reiner). The Neighborhood Strategy in the Community Development Block Grant Program, Community Development Strategies Evaluation, HUD, 1980, 80 pps. Baseline Report on Twenty Study Areas, Community Development Strategies Evaluation, HUD, 1980, 120 pps. Neighborhood Development. Report prepared for the Presidential Commission on Agendas for the 80's. Washington, D.C., 1980, 40 pps. The Not for Profit Sector in Stable and Growing Metropolitan Regions, Papers, Regional Science Association, 1981. Programs and Impacts, Community Development Strategies Evaluation, HUD, 1981. Comfort and Solace to Cities in Distress. Published as Atwood Lecture, Clark University, 1982. The Nonprofit Sector of the Region's Economy, Regional Plan News, September 1982, No. 111, New York, N.Y. Long Term Neighborhood Property Impacts of Group Homes for Mentally Retarded People. Published by N.Y. State Office of MR and DD, Albany, 1982 (with Lawrence Dolan). Social Cohesion and Community Development, Community Development Strategies Evaluation, HUD, 1982. Behavioral and Social Science Research: A National Resource. Contributed sections of the report. National Academy of Sciences National Research Council, Washington, D.C. 1982. Can Philanthropy Replace Government Programs? Metropolitan Philanthropy Discussion Paper Series, University of Pennsylvania, 1982. New Jersey Group Homes for Mentally Retarded People: An Investigation of Neighborhood Property Impacts. Report for New Jersey Division of MR and DD, Trenton, March 1983. Neighborhood Preservation Companies: Self Sufficiency and Capping Issues. New York Division of Housing and Community Renewal, 1983 (with Thomas Reiner). The Philanthropy Marketplace, Economic Geography, Vol. 60, No. 3, July 1984 (with Thomas Reiner). Service Provision by the Not for Profit Sector: A Comparative Study, Economic Geography, 60, No. 1, 1984, pp. 28 37 (with Thomas Reiner). The Not for Profit Sector in Stable and Growing Metropolitan Regions, Urban Affairs Quarterly, Vol. 20, No. 4, June 1985 pp. 487 510 (with Thomas Reiner). The Gulf of Maine Boundary Dispute. Contributions to Socio-Economic Annex, U.S. State Department, 1985. The Savings/Harm Tableau for Social Impact Assessment of Retrenchment Policies (with John Seley), Economic Geography, 60, 2 (1985). Place Rights and Neighborhood Bailout (with John Seley) 1984 Woodrow Wilson School Working Paper. Funding Caps (with Thomas Reiner). Public Administration Review. 45,3 (1985), 391 98. Social Characteristics as Contributors to Neighborhood Development, U.S. Dept. of Housing & Community Development, 1985. Why Urban Triage Cannot Work (with John Seley) 1986 Working Paper Urban Neighborhoods as a National Resource: Irreversible Decisions and their Equity Spillovers (with John Seley), Geographical Analysis, 18, 1 (1986) 81 93. Dynamic Municipal Allocation Analysis (with L.W. Dolan and John Seley), Environment and Planning, 1986. The Not for Profit Sector in Stable and Growing Metropolitan Regions, Urban Affairs Quarterly, Vol. 20, No. 4, June 1985 pp. 487 510 (with Thomas Reiner). Philanthropy Rights and Entitlements (with Thomas A. Reiner), in Philanthropy, Voluntary Action and the Public Good, Independent Sector: Washington, D.C., 1986. Philanthropy: A Research Agenda, in Charles Clotfelter (ed.) Setting the Research Agenda in Philanthropy and Volunteerism. Center for the Study of Philanthropy and Voluntarism, Institute of Policy Sciences and Public Affairs, Duke University, 1987, pp. 6 14. Austerity Impacts on Neighborhood Development Organizations (with Thomas Reiner), Policy Studies Journal, 16, No.2, Winter, 1987, pp. 307 23. The Nuclear Iceberg: Hazards to the Siting of Hazardous Waste, published as Ida Beam Lecture, University of Iowa, 1986.