Robert Edwin Lang

He was born May 28,1959 in Brooklyn, New York to Edwin C. Lang and Hope T. Polen and grew up mainly in New Jersey He met his wife, Karen A. Danielsen-Lang (nee Vaughan) at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1979. They were married in Tijuana, Mexico in February 1980.They lived in Washington, D.C and Alexandria, Virginia before to moving Las Vegas in 2011.

Lang was a Professor of Public Policy at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and became the inaugural Lincy Endowed Chair in Urban Affairs. He also served as the founding Executive Director of the Lincy Institute and launched Brookings Mountain West at UNLV. He was also a Resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. Lang holds a Ph.D. in sociology from Rutgers University. Prior to his last position, Lang was Professor and Department Chair in urban planning at Virginia Tech. He was also a Senior Director of urban and metropolitan research at the Fannie Mae Foundation in Washington, D.C. before teaching at Virginia Tech. Lang began his career as a research associate at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ.

Lang was a prolific, internationally recognized authority on urban growth, economic development and population dynamics and American politics. His research was featured in numerous print media outlets and he appeared as an expert commentator on major television and radio stations. Lang authored dozens of opinion editorial pieces that have run in newspapers and periodicals locally and nationally. He was editor for the academic journal Housing Policy Debate and started another journal called Opolis. He authored over 220 academic and professional publications including nine books. Lang was Fulbright Fellow in Paris, France, an Academic Fellow at the Urban Land Institute in Washington, D.C., and a Planning Fellow at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in Cambridge, MA.

Although Lang was an academic, he was also an important and effective public policy advocate for the Las Vegas community and Nevada working closely with many government officials and business leaders. Yet he loved to teach and mentor students. His ability to explain very complex topics with both ease and humor was part of how he was able to convince public leaders to act. He was instrumental in launching the UNLV medical school, getting Interstate 11 and Allegiant Stadium built among other important local community needs.

His wit and charm were infectious especially when discussing perhaps his first love, politics. He also loved to travel all over the world but his heart was always in the west where he enjoyed visiting all the national parks and to hike. He loved going to the movies with his son Aidan. Robert was a loving husband and father to his son Aidan and he liked spending time and offering advice to his nieces and nephews over the years.

He is survived by his wife Karen Danielsen-Lang, his son Aidan R. Lang his brother Michael Lang and his wife Lori, their children Jared, Marisa and Rachel and their families and his sister Faith Lang and his father-in-law Jerome Vaughan and his wife Violet, brother-in-law Peter Vaughan and his wife Vija and their girls Emily and Livija, Frances Vaughan, Walter Vaughan and his family, Robert and Amy Williamson and their children Kaitlyn and Michael.

A private family funeral service will be held at 1:00 pm on July 15, 2021 at King David Mortuary. A public memorial ceremony will be held at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in early September, 2021.