(Posted March 5, 2003)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Robert Wiener, director of the California Coalition for Rural Housing Project, will begin a weeklong residency as a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow March 10 through March 14 at Juniata College, where he will visit classes, meet with several local organizations and deliver a public lecture at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, March 13 in Alumni Hall in the Brumbaugh Science Center on the Juniata campus.

The public lecture, "A Home in the Country: Shelter Poverty in Rural America, " is free and open to the public.

"Dr Wiener's background is in regional planning, and much of his career has been concentrated on issues in rural areas," says James Tuten, assistant provost at Juniata and coordinator of the college's speakers program. "His expertise is particularly relevant to our area."

During his residency, Wiener also will meet with the Juniata College chapter of Habitat for Humanity as well as the local Huntingdon chapter of Habitat for Humanity.

The California Coalition for Rural Housing is a statewide network of nonprofit housing developers, legal services agencies and public housing agencies. Among its programs are Sustainable Rural Communities and the Rural Housing Summit, an annual retreat on policy and program issues on housing.
Weiner founded the California Coalition for Urban Housing in 1981. He frequently lectures at California State University, Sacramento and has taught courses at the University of California -- Los Angeles and the University of California -- Davis.

He also co-edited the book "Housing in Rural America: Building Affordable and Inclusive Communities." Wiener earned a bachelor's degree in geography from the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Conn. in 1975. He went on to earn a master's degree in city and regional planning in 1978 from the University of California -- Berkeley and a doctorate in urban planning in 1993 from UCLA.
The Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellows program was established to bring thoughtful and successful practitioners to colleges for a week of classes and informal discussions with students and faculty.



The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation has developed and conducted programs in higher education since 1945. More than 200 colleges have participated in the Visiting Fellows program since 1973.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.