The binational agreements are signed and construction on the New International Trade Crossing (NITC), the Gordie Howe International Bridge, is foreseeable. The bridge spans across the Detroit River to connect the cities of Detroit and Windsor – the United States and Canada. This forum will report on research related to the regional impact of the new bridge and policy considerations for a 2020 completion. Less obvious considerations for a unique and sizable construction like the bridge will be explored and include housing and services for temporary workers, fluctuations in business activity, and trade and industry flow.
(Photo courtesy of Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority; conceptual rendering)
Speakers and Panelist Info
- Andrew S. Doctoroff Special Projects Advisor, Office of Governor Rick Snyder
Andrew S. Doctoroff serves as Special Projects Advisor to Michigan’s Governor Rick Snyder. Within his portfolio is the Gordie Howe International Bridge. As an attorney, he specializes in mass tort product liability defense, complex commercial litigation, labor and employment law, and media law. Prior to graduating from University of Michigan Law School, Mr. Doctoroff was a reporter at The Detroit News and Los Angeles Times. From 1990 to 1992, Mr. Doctoroff served as a judicial law clerk to Hon. Avern Cohn, U.S. District Court Judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. From 2005 to 2008, he was chairperson of the State Bar of Michigan's Law and the Media Committee. In addition to being a member of the State Bar of Michigan, Mr. Doctoroff is a member of the Federal, Detroit Metropolitan, and Oakland County Bar Associations and the American Constitutional Society, where he serves as a member of the board of directors.
- Bill Anderson, Ph.D., Ontario Research Chair in Cross-Border Transportation Policy and Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Windsor Bill Anderson is the Ontario Research Chair in Cross-Border Transportation Policy, founding director of the Cross-Border Transportation Studies Institute and professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Windsor. He received his doctorate in Geography from Boston University in 1984. As a member of the Geography faculty, director of the Institute for Energy Studies and an associate member of the Department of Civil engineering at McMaster University, he was recruited back to Boston University before being recruited to the University of Windsor in 2008. Professor Anderson’s main research interests are in transportation studies; international trade and business; Canada-US economic integration; energy and environmental studies; and urban and regional economic analysis. He has published 60 journal articles and book chapters and is co-editor of three recent books on transportation infrastructure and technologies.
- Zeenat Kotval-Karamchandani, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Urban & Regional Planning, Michigan State University
Dr. Zeenat Kotval-Karamchandani joined the Urban & Regional Planning Program at MSU in 2013 as an Instructor. She completed her PhD in the Department of Geography and received her Master’s degree in Urban & Regional Planning from MSU, and a Master’s in Hospitality Administration from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Her research interests include transportation planning, and urban and environmental sustainability. Currently, Dr. Kotval-K’s research focuses on health impacts, travel behavior and environmental burdens of residents in inner cities and their surrounding suburban areas in Michigan. Her research has focused specifically on Lansing and Detroit.
- Roger Hamlin, Ph.D., Professor of Urban Planning and Public Administration, Michigan State University
Dr. Hamlin is Professor of Urban Planning and Public Administration at Michigan State University. He is currently studying economic development activity related to the Gordie Howe International Bridge. He has directed several international projects for the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research, serving as a Senior Ph.D. Professor of Public Administration at the Babes-Bolyai University in Romania, and a Visiting Professor of Architecture at the Tokyo Science University in Japan. He has worked for the New York Senate and Office of Planning Services. He has written several books and has designed multiple industry-related software packages. Dr. Hamlin has earned the White House Achievement Award, The Nelson Jack Edwards Award for “the Greatest Contribution to Metropolitan Detroit,” and the Illinois Foundation Award. His research has earned national awards from the American Planning Association and the American Institute of Certified Planners. He was a CIC Academic Leadership Fellow and an American Council on Education Fellow Finalist. Sponsor Leadership
- Matt Grossmann, Ph.D., Director, Institute for Public Policy and Social Research (IPPSR), Associate Professor of Political Science
A nationally known political scientist, he also holds a position as Associate Professor of Political Science at Michigan State University. As an expert on American politics and government, his research spans national and state policymaking, election campaigns, interest groups, and political parties. He is the author of Artists of the Possible: Governing Networks and American Policy Change Since 1945, published by Oxford University Press in 2014 and The Not-So-Special Interests: Interest Groups, Public Representation, and American Governance, published by Stanford University Press in 2012. He has also authored numerous journal articles on such topics as policy change, political party networks, the legislative process and public opinion. He is also co-author of Campaigns & Elections, a textbook available through W. W. Norton, and editor of the volume New Directions in Interest Group Politics, from Routledge.
His work experience includes candidate training, policy and survey research at the Rose Institute of State and Local Government, the Institute of Governmental Studies, the Center for Voting and Democracy and the Center for Democracy and Technology. A member of MSU’s faculty since 2007, he is founder and director of the Michigan Policy Network and served as liaison to MSU’s Washington Semester Program. He received his bachelor’s degree from Claremont McKenna College, his master’s in political science in 2002 and doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2007. He became IPPSR director in January 2016.
- AnnMarie Schneider, M.S., Director for Program Planning & Policy Education, IPPSR
AnnMarie Schneider is the director for Program Planning and Policy Education at IPPSR. She served on the start up team for IPPSR cornerstone programs including the Annual Public Policy Forum Series, State of the State Survey, Michigan Political Leadership Program, and MSU’s Legislative Leadership Program. She continues to work with these programs while advising the Institute’s marketing and communications. She administers the Michigan Applied Public Policy Grant Program for university faculty with policy research interests and is noted for her work in both the public and private sector for group facilitation, strategic planning, networking and program implementation. She serves on the International Studies and Programs leadership team as director of the Canadian Studies Center. In this role, she is charged with strengthening cross border university connections while encouraging academic and research interests in Canada.
Speaker Bios
Download April 20th Speaker Info (.pdf)