Jan Nijman is a longtime professor of geography at the University of Amsterdam and the founding director of the Urban Studies Institute and Distinguished University Professor, Geosciences at Georgia State University.

Nijman is the author of five books including Geography: Realms, Regions, and Concepts and more than 100 other publications in a wide range of international journals. His primary research interests are in urban theory, urban and regional development, and global comparative urban studies, with regional expertise and extensive field work experience in North America, West Europe and South Asia.

Nijman’s professional honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Nystrom Award for best doctoral dissertation in Geography in the United States, the University Teaching Award at the University of Miami, and the J.B. Jackson book award from the Association of American Geographers.