91.7 WVXU: New research fellow at UC will work to find policy solutions for workforce housing in Cincinnati
Fellowship made possible by alumnus Bruce Eichner
Dean Verna Williams.
WVXU spoke with UC College of Law Dean Verna Williams about a new research fellow focused on workforce housing. The Ian Bruce Eichner Research Fellowship in Workforce Housing Policy Fund was made possible by a $500,000 gift from Bruce Eichner, JD ’69.
Williams told WVXU the fellow will look for policy solutions to increase housing affordable to teachers, law enforcement, nurses, and other middle-class professionals.
“And I hope that it’s the beginning of more work in this regard, because it's just vitally important,” she said in the interview. “We can’t let our cities become the preserve of the ultra-wealthy.”
This visiting legal scholar should be in place by fall semester and will be based in the Nathaniel R. Jones Center for Race, Gender, and Social Justice at UC Law.
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.
Featured image at top: UC Law students. Photo/UC Law.
Next, Now
With its focus on innovation and impact, Next, Now: The Campaign for Cincinnati is where ambition meets action. At the University of Cincinnati and UC Health, we’re driven by next; thinking bolder and dreaming bigger to create the tomorrow we envision, today. Learn more at nextnow.uc.edu.
Related Stories
Three years, countless stories
May 15, 2026
UC's Klekamp Law celebrates its 193rd Hooding with stories from graduates reflecting on their paths through the college.
Will a gas tax help lower prices at the pump?
May 14, 2026
WCPO recently reported on Kentucky and Indiana’s steps to combat surging gas prices, cutting and suspending state gas taxes, respectively. UC economist Michael Jones explained the impact on Cincinnati.
Is a colonoscopy painful?
May 13, 2026
The University of Cincinnati's Susan Kais, MD, assistant professor of clinical medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology in the College of Medicine and UC Health gastroenterologist, recently appeared on the ARC Cincinnati morning program on Local 12/WKRC-TV to answer common questions from viewers about colonoscopies and to dispel myths.