Conrad Kickert is an Associate Professor at the University at Buffalo's School of Architecture and Planning, as well as the Director of Programs at the Rudy Bruner Center for Urban Excellence. Dr. Kickert has a background in urbanism and architecture from the TU Delft (Netherlands) and holds a PhD in architecture from the University of Michigan. He has worked as an urban researcher and designer for various design offices, property developers and non-profit organizations in The Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. He is an urban design scholar whose research focuses on the evolving relationship between urban form, urban life, and the urban economy.