The UNL College of Architecture announces the retirement of Community and Regional Planning (CRP) Associate Professor Rodrigo Cantarero with great appreciation for his contributions and service. At the time of Cantarero’s retirement, he dutifully served the college and its community partners for over 31 years starting as an assistant professor in 1989.
As a CRP faculty member, he has led the development and delivery of graduate-level courses focused on quantitative and qualitative methods for professional planning practice—critically important substantive areas for the CRP curriculum. Cantarero also regularly taught a unique course that compared planning challenges and practices in developing countries—a course that expands the students’ awareness of planning issues and approaches around the world.
Cantarero also holds an affiliate professor position with UNL's Latino/Latin American Program and the Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families & Schools. His collaborative research has made significant contributions to quality-of-life issues in rural Nebraska communities that have experienced large Latino/Hispanic population increases. Rural minority health has been a strong focal point in Cantarero’s research. His research aimed to identify and address the specific needs of these members of society and promote the general welfare of the population.
“Rodrigo’s teaching and research has sensitized our students to the essential aspects of the planner’s professional ethical responsibilities,” said CRP Program Director Gordon Scholz. During his tenure with the university, he served as CRP program director from 2000-2001 and as a project director of UNL’s Community Outreach Partnership Center, developing a system that would allow Lincoln’s four cultural centers, that serve minority populations, to access web-based information using Geographic Information Systems.
Cantarero’s enthusiasm for serving the community extended to his involvement with various organizations namely as a member, co-founder and director of the Latino Research Initiative, a fellow of the Center for Applied Rural Innovation, a research associate of the Monteverde Institute in Costa Rica and a member of the Lincoln-Lancaster County Board of Health.
“Rodrigo’s passion for data is inspirational! His research has been used to guide programming in communities across the state,” said Lisa Knoche, Research Associate Professor for the Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families & Schools. “Because of my work with Rodrigo, I have been more thoughtful about the important influence of community resources and community characteristics on young children’s health and well-being. I truly enjoyed and benefitted from every opportunity I had to work with Rodrigo starting back with the LRI. I can’t thank Rodrigo enough for his many contributions!“
“We will greatly miss Rodrigo as he enters the next chapter of his life. I cannot say enough about what a strong contribution Rodrigo has made not only to the education of our students over these last three decades but also in the lives of rural minorities in Nebraska through his research and community outreach,” said College of Architecture Dean Katherine Ankerson. “We wish him all the best!” Cantarero received his Bachelor degree in Urban Planning at Iowa State University, Master degrees in both Economics and Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Iowa, and a Ph.D degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Southern California.
