Thomas E. Jacobson, AICP

Education Director, LUEP

Tom Jacobson is the Education Director of the VCU Land Use Education Program since 2019 and an Adjunct Instructor in the VCU Urban and Regional Studies and Planning program since 2003. He teaches the graduate land use planning class and periodically other planning classes including leading a planning study of London, England, and a joint VCU-RPTU class in Germany. Tom was the director of the Chesterfield County Planning Department for seventeen years and initiated the County’s community revitalization program. He then became the first Revitalization Director in order to revitalize the County’s poorer and aging communities.

Tom has written several articles and presented over 500 presentations on planning, land use development, urban sprawl, suburban design, affordable housing, and income and poverty patterns. He is the recipient of a number of awards including the VCU Wilder School Distinguished Adjunct Award in 2016; the Urban Land Institute Richmond 2015 Member of the Year Award, and the Chesterfield County 1998 Civic Appreciation Award. He remains active in civic affairs by serving on the Chesterfield Alternatives Incorporated board of directors and leads the development of an affordable housing project for disabled individuals. Tom holds a BS in civil engineering and an MS in environmental planning from the University of Minnesota and a year towards a PhD in urban planning from the University of North Carolina.