The Institute for Urban Policy Research, founded in 2005 as the J. McDonald Williams Institute, is dedicated to improving lives and quality of life through community-based research that informs, motivates, and empowers ordinary people and the policy makers, civic leaders, and organizations who serve them. With offices on the campus of The University of Texas at Dallas, and friends and partners in the community, we harness the most rigorous analytical tools and methods available to clarify the complex issues faced by the residents of distressed communities. The Institute's holistic research strategy brings the interdisciplinary perspectives of six focal areas to bear on the most pressing problems facing our communities. These include Education, Public Safety, Health, Housing, Social Capital, and Economic Development. More importantly, our focus on community empowerment means that, once the research is done, we support communities to act upon that newfound information and affect changes in their lives and their neighborhoods.
Denise Boots
Research Fellow and Associate Professor of Criminology
