Eva Kassens-Noor is an associate professor of Urban and Regional Planning in SPDC, holding a joint appointment with the MSU Global Urban Studies Program (GUSP). She is also an adjunct associate professor in the MSU Department of Geography, Environment and Spatial Sciences. Kassens-Noor received her Diplom-Ingenieur (equivalent to a BA and one year MS) in Business Engineering from the Universität Karlsruhe (TH) in Germany, her MST (Master of Science in Transportation) from the Civil and Engineering Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and her PhD from the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She was born in Germany and has lived in Sydney, Australia; London, U.K.; Barcelona, Spain; Lausanne, Switzerland; Athens, Greece; and Boston, MA. In her professional engagements, Dr. Kassens-Noor was a staff member at the Boston 2024 Partnership Inc during the summer of 2015, has consulted for the Athens Airport Authority (2004 Summer Olympics), Vancouver Airport Authority (2010 Winter Olympics), and the Holy Mecca (2009 Pilgrimage Planning). Her research interests center around resilience, sustainability and large-scale urban planning projects that are triggered by global forces. Dr. Kassens-Noor is particularly interested in how to plan mega-events, like the Olympic Games, World Cups, World’s Fairs, and so forth.