David Sloane is a professor in the Department of Urban Planning and Spatial Analysis within the Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California.
He researches and teaches about community health planning, food security, public safety, and commemoration from historical and contemporary perspectives.
He is best recognized as a leading expert on the history and contemporary issues in mourning, commemoration, and public space. His book, The Last Great Necessity: Cemeteries in American History (1991), has been called a classic in the field. His recent book, Is the Cemetery Dead? (2018), is an exploration of our current innovations and conflicts around commemoration while considering how we mourn in public and online. He is also acknowledged as an expert in Los Angeles urban planning, having edited the multi-author book Planning Los Angeles (2012) for the American Planning Association.
He has developed a well-deserved reputation as a leading voice in community health planning for his collaborative work on food systems, neighborhood safety, and resource environments. Much of his work on contemporary planning explores issues of collaboration and change, looking at how community advocates can mobilize to affect their environments, and thus their well-being. He worked with the Community Health Councils on a series of REACH (Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health) grants funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These grants, along with others funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the American Heart Association aim at reducing health disparities around diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Sloane received his BA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his MA and Ph.D. from Syracuse University.