Posted on April 18, 2025
Post categories: Architecture Faculty Landscape Architecture Research Urban Design & Planning
The College of Built Environments (CBE) mourns the passing of Professor Emeritus Anne Vernez Moudon, a world-renowned scholar whose work in urban design, pedestrian safety, and public health shaped how cities are understood and experienced around the globe. Anne passed away on April 8, 2025, in Paris, France, her favorite city, and a fitting reflection of her lifelong dedication to the built environment.
A professor in the Department of Urban Design and Planning at the University of Washington, Anne spent more than three decades transforming the field of urban form and mobility. Her interdisciplinary research spanned urban design, architecture, transportation, and public health, bridging fields and connecting ideas to improve everyday life in cities.
Over her 25-year study of pedestrian safety and behavior, Anne led major research initiatives such as the COVID-19 Mobility Survey, a partnership between the University of Washington and the Puget Sound Regional Council. Her work helped policymakers understand how the pandemic reshaped commuting patterns and daily activity. In a 2021 interview, Anne reflected on the implications of these changes, noting that the shift in transportation habits presented both challenges and opportunities for long-term urban planning.
Anne’s scholarship also reached an international stage. In 2016, she co-authored a major study for The Lancet that examined how car-centric planning has contributed to negative health outcomes in cities worldwide. Her research called for healthier, more walkable urban environments—work that continues to guide planners, public health officials, and students today.
Anne gave her final public lecture at the University of Washington in Kane Hall on November 19, 2016, as the featured speaker for the Thinking About Urbanization event. In her lecture, she spoke about the evolution of cities, her decades of research, and the connections between urban form and human wellbeing. The event also marked the introduction of the Anne Vernez Moudon Scholarship Fund, established to support students passionate about shaping the future of urban environments.
Anne officially retired from teaching in 2015, but retirement was just a technicality. She remained active in the field, collaborating with the Urban Form Lab, mentoring students, and traveling widely. Her legacy lives on in the thousands of students she taught, the policies she helped influence, and the neighborhoods, streets, and cities shaped by her ideas.
In 2025, CBE honored Anne with induction into the CBE Roll of Honor, recognizing her extraordinary legacy of service, scholarship, and impact.
Anne’s intellectual curiosity, creative energy, and love for urban life live on in the work of her students, colleagues, and research partners. We are deeply grateful for Anne’s contributions to our college and to the world. She made cities better, and she made us better too.