Noreen C. McDonald

Noreen C. McDonald is professor and former chair in the Department of City and Regional Planning and senior associate dean for Social Sciences and Global Programs in College of Arts and Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her work, at the intersection of planning and public health, explores how changing technology and policy impact road safety and access to healthcare. Her work has focused on how infrastructure—such as schools, roads, and bike lanes—impact road safety and physical activity, especially for children and young adults. Her current projects focus on how transport technology, policy and COVID-19 impact road safety, goods movement, and access to health care. She is an internationally recognized expert on the travel behavior of youth and young adults. Prior to becoming a professor, she worked as a consultant for Cambridge Systematics and Mercer Management Consulting (now Oliver Wyman). McDonald received her MS in civil engineering and her PhD in regional planning from the University of California, Berkeley.

updated 2024