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ATLANTA — Fei Li, an assistant professor in Georgia State University’s Urban Studies Institute, has received the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies (AYSPS) 2025 Dean’s Early Career Award.
The award recognizes the accomplishments of a tenure-track AYSPS assistant professor for their outstanding success in research, scholarship, teaching and service to their department.
“Fei Li is a very worthy recipient of the Dean’s Early Career Award,” said Johannes Nijman, founding director of the Urban Studies Institute. “This honor signals our appreciation to a young colleague who has quietly but vitally contributed to our mission on all fronts.”
Li joined the Andrew Young School in 2018. Her research has a strong focus on policy analysis and stands out in the use of advanced quantitative methodologies and experimental approaches while centering on several pressing policy issues facing American cities, such as socio-spatial segregation, affordable housing, the digital divide, transportation policies and health disparities, often with attention to marginalized communities.
She has produced 14 peer-reviewed publications, including 12 journal articles (nine lead-authored) and two book chapters. The quality of her research is reflected in her successful acquisition of external research funding, which is well over $400,000, and the high rankings of the journals in which she has managed to publish, including Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, Journal of the American Planning Association, Transportation Research A: Policy and Practice, Urban Studies, Health and Place, and The International Journal of Urban Policy and Planning.
“Fei’s teaching contribution, too, is of huge value to the Institute,” Nijman said. “She is extremely well prepared for her classes and obviously dedicated to the well-being of the students.”
The breadth of Li’s teaching portfolio includes a course in urban geographic information systems (GIS), an advanced graduate seminar in urban policy analytics, another in research design and an undergraduate course on the global evolution of cities. In past years, she has taught economics as an affiliate member of the Department of Public Management and Policy, and graduate students often seek her advice and choose her for Ph.D. committees. Her teaching evaluations are consistently excellent.
“Overall, Dr. Li’s expertise is vital to the agenda of the Urban Studies Institute and aligns clearly with the strategic directions of the Andrew Young School,” Nijman said. “It is difficult to imagine our research and teaching programs without her contributions.”