Activist Scholar: Selected Works of Marilyn Gittell features seminal writings by Marilyn Gittell, a preface by Sara Miller McCune (Founder and Executive Chairman, SAGE Publications), a general introduction by Ross Gittell and Kathe Newman, and part introductions by Ross Gittell, Kathe Newman, Maurice Berube, and Nancy Naples. The part introductions highlight the key areas of research Marilyn Gittell championed and provide insightful context for the articles that follow. In addition to exploring Marilyn Gittell′s groundbreaking research, this book serves as a bridge to current and future community-based urban research that advances citizen participation and empowerment.

Marilyn Gittell was a renowned scholar and social activist. A graduate of Brooklyn College (BA) and New York University (PhD), she held her first faculty appointment at Queens College (1960–1973) before serving as Associate Provost (1973–1978) at Brooklyn College. She then joined the faculty of the City University of New York′s Graduate Center (1978–2010) as Professor of Political Science. She helped launch and was the founding editor of Urban Affairs Quarterly, the leading academic journal in the field of urban research.

Activist Scholar highlights Professor Gittell′s writings on community organizations, citizen participation, urban politics, the politics of education, and gender. She specialized in applied and comparative research on local, regional, national, and international policies and politics, and placed a high priority on training researchers and scholars. Marilyn Gittell was a mentor to hundreds of students in the City University of New York system, and her legacy of activism continues as her students, now on the faculties of universities across the nation, engage in important work globally.