Lawrence Levy

Lawrence Levy is the Executive Dean at National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University.

During his 35 years as a reporter, editorial writer, columnist and PBS talk show host, Lawrence Levy won many of journalism’s top awards, including Pulitzer Finalist, for in-depth works on suburban politics, education, taxation, housing and other key issues. As a journalist, he was known for his blending of national trends and local perspectives and has covered six presidential campaigns. In his leadership role at the NCSS, he has worked with Academic Director Christopher Niedt to give it a truly national profile. He works especially close with Hofstra’s strong academic community to shape an innovative agenda for suburban study, including a new Sustainability Studies degree, forge alliances with other institutions, not-for-profit groups and government agencies and promote the study of the suburbs nationwide.

Levy is a member of a Brookings Institution advisory panel and was a keynote speaker at Brookings 2008 Metro Policy Summit in Washington, DC. Levy also led a collaboration between Hofstra and Boston College to create a first-in-the nation suburban ecology initiative, and another alliance between Hofstra and Cornell to sponsor the Local Government Leadership Institute. Before joining Hofstra, he was Senior Editorial Writer and Chief Political Columnist for Newsday, and remains involved in the world of journalism and politics. Levy has been a guest contributor to CNN.com, the New York Times.com, covering the 2008 presidential campaign from a suburban perspective. He also writes a regular column on politics for the Albany Times Union, and appears regularly on local and national television.