July 2024 Faculty Spotlight

Founder of Urban Cartographics and former Baruch student, Ian Rasmussen, tells us about his business, what made him come back to the Marxe School to teach the course  – Building Cities, and more in this month’s faculty spotlight.

You attended Baruch College around 20 years ago and took a class at the Marxe School – can you tell us about that?
When I arrived at Baruch in the winter of 2003, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life (professionally). On my dad’s advice, I figured that if I wasn’t inspired by anything in particular, I would just get a degree in business; everything is a business, after all. One of the first classes I took was an introduction to public policy that was being taught by Dr. Andrew Parker. In the syllabus I noticed the initials “AICP” after his name, and after some digging, I learned that both his licensure and his PhD were in the field of urban planning, which had long been as interest of mine. In the Spring of 2004, I finally had the chance to take his class most squarely on the subject of urban planning, which was called “The Public Regulation of Land Use”. To say that class hit me like a lightning bolt would be an understatement. From that point on I knew what I wanted to do with my career.

What made you want to come back to Marxe to teach?
At some point, I started wondering who was teaching the class that had changed my life. (Surely Parker, close to retirement back in 2004, was gone). I thought maybe I would connect with the new professor and offer to guest lecture on how the course plays out in the real world. To my surprise, I could find no trace of the course in the catalog. Without hesitation, I reached out to the dean of the Marxe school and volunteered to revive the course myself. Not only would I enjoy teaching it, but if I could connect with just one student the way Dr. Parker had connected with me, how wonderful that would be. On a more serious note, understanding the school’s offerings in the realms of public policy and real estate, I really believe the course is necessary and should be offered.

Tell us about your business.
I’m the founder and principal of Urban Cartographics. We are a planning and zoning consultancy specializing in the maps and graphics used in the NYC development approval process. Our team combined years of experience in urban planning, zoning law, graphic design, and the NYC development approval process, to help get real estate developments approved. (More here.)

What are you looking forward to teaching most in your course, Building Cities?
Understanding how laws and regulations shape the city we live in brings a depth of experience to everyday life. Each building a story, each geometric twist and turn of a building a corresponding chapter and verse, every vacant lot a random confluence of factors that has somehow resisted the pressure to build something in the most sought after location on earth. Nothing is more fun, at least in my professional life, than giving others the opportunity to see the City through those lenses.