Thomas Sanchez earned his PhD in City Planning from Georgia Tech in 1996 and has since taught at Iowa State University, Portland State University, the University of Utah, and is currently professor of Urban Affairs and Planning at Virginia Tech. Sanchez conducts research in the areas of environmental justice, technology, and the social aspects of planning and policy. He also serves as editor of Housing Policy Debate and is a nonresident senior fellow of the Brookings Institution. In 2012 he co-authored Planning as if People Matter: Governing for Social Equity (Island Press) with Marc Brenman. In 2007 they co-authored The Right to Transportation: Moving to Equity (American Planning Association).