University of Cincinnati College of Law will establish the Ian Bruce Eichner Research Fellowship in Workforce Housing Policy Fund thanks to a $500,000 gift from alumnus Bruce Eichner. The Eichner Fellowship will be a three-year program aimed at improving research, advocacy, development and access to workforce housing.
This visiting legal scholar will be based in the Nathaniel R. Jones Center for Race, Gender, and Social Justice at Cincinnati Law.
The term workforce housing applies to housing that is affordable for city employees. Teachers, police officers, social workers and health care workers are examples of professions that often cannot afford to live in the cities where they work.
Eichner is chairman of the Continuum Company, a privately held real estate development firm based in New York City he founded in 1981. He has been involved with workforce housing issues for the last few years. He said the COVID-19 pandemic magnified this issue for health care and frontline workers in New York. The individuals working in hospitals could not afford to live where they worked and stayed in hotels during the height of the crisis.
“I see this as being a partnership between academics and a real issue for every city in the United States,” he said.
In addition to support from law faculty, the Eichner Fellowship will work in collaboration with other areas across Cincinnati Law, including business, planning and design and arts and sciences.
“Bruce has an intimate understanding of the complex issue of workforce housing,” said Verna Williams, dean and Nippert Professor of Law. “I’m grateful for his dedication to action and solutions as well as his trust in UC Law. Workforce housing is crucial to the long-term vitality and diversity of our cities.”
