ur·ban·olo·gist (ʉr′bə näl′ə jist): (noun) a student of, or specialist in, urban problems

As an urbanologist, geographer, historian, and raconteur, Max Grinnell finds his raison d’etre in describing, critiquing, and analyzing the urban condition.

Raised in Seattle and Madison, Wisconsin, Max was educated at the University of Chicago and the University of Wisconsin. He has diverse talents and abilities that he brings to his work as an educator, a journalist, an urban consultant, and a writer.

As part of his professional experience, Max has worked with the Michael Sorkin Design Studio, the Newberry Library, Frommer’s Publications, AA Publishing, the Chicago Tribune, the city of Chicago’s Cultural Affairs Department, the Worldwide University Network, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the University of Chicago.

He has designed and taught courses on urban studies, community development, geography, planning and sociology at the University of Wisconsin, Boston University, the Massachusetts College of  Art and Design and the University of Chicago.

Since 2002, Max has written and edited The Scout Report, a weekly publication sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the Microsoft Corporation, and the University of Wisconsin. Each week, he write about high quality websites that profile everything from archaeological digs in Israel to photo archives documenting the architectural history of San Francisco. The most recent edition of the Report can be found here.

Over the past decade, Max has published several substantive critiques of urban development policies, architectural guides to Chicago and Boston, and a book on the history of one of Chicago’s most diverse and culturally significant neighborhoods, Hyde Park (Arcadia Publications, 2001).

His most recent book, a lively look at 24 of Chicago’s most intriguing neighborhoods, was  published concurrently by AA Publishing (Britain) and Frommer’s (North America) in 2009.

Those who are interested in learning more about Max and his recent work may wish to read this interview from Gaper’s Block.

Max currently divides his time between Chicago and Boston.