Director, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Arizona State University
Director, Partnership for Community Development
Professor, School of Community Resources and Development
Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions
Arizona State University
Phoenix, AZ, USA
Email: richard.knopf@asu.edu Phone: 602-496-2148
Quick Bio
Dr. Richard Knopf is professor of Community Development at Arizona State University, and directs ASU’s Partnership for Community Development and Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Dr. Knopf is a recipient of the Community Development Society’s Community Development Achievement Award – recognizing his 40 years of practice as a community organizer and scholar. His passion is to co-create organic leadership development processes, particularly in the context of marginalized communities. His research has focused on grass roots community organizing, sustainable community development practices, and life quality enhancement. He has published over 150 journal articles, book chapters and technical reports pertaining to the broad themes of sustainable community development, community life quality, and environmental management.
Dr. Knopf’s specialty areas include: community well-being, healthy aging and lifespan development, community development theory and practice, community justice and marginalization, civic engagement and volunteerism, strategic planning and visioning, public philanthropy, and university-community partnership formation. Prior to coming to Arizona State University, Dr. Knopf served on the faculties of The Pennsylvania State University, The University of Minnesota and Colorado State University. He also served in research and public policy formation roles in the United States federal government as a senior social scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In that capacity, he focused on regional planning and community life quality development initiatives.
He holds a Ph. D. in Environment and Sustainability, a M.S. in Urban and Regional Planning, and a B.S. in Forest Resources from The University of Michigan – Ann Arbor.