Craig A. (Tony) Arnold

Herbert F. Boehl Chair in Property and Land Use

School of Law

Craig Anthony (Tony) Arnold, J.D., is professor of law at the School of Law, affiliated professor of urban planning in the Department of Urban and Public Affairs, and chair of the interdisciplinary Center for Land Use and Environmental Responsibility. His teaching interests include land use planning and regulation, environmental law and policy, water resources law and policy, and property rights.

Arnold has received national recognition for his research, which focuses primarily on the environmental regulation of land use. His research is at the intersection of property law, land use planning and regulation, water law and policy and environmental conservation. He uses interdisciplinary analysis and insights from collaborative problem solving to understand and propose solutions to some of our society's most difficult questions about how to achieve ecologically sustainable land use practices.

His current work is concentrated in three areas. The first is land use planning, regulation and environmental justice, particularly the disproportionate impacts of environmental and land use practices on low-income and minority communities. The second is land use planning, regulation and watershed protection. His final major area of focus is the structure of the land use regulatory system in the United States, particularly in the context of deliberative democratic processes and discretionary decision making.

Arnold received his bachelor’s degree, with highest distinction, Phi Beta Kappa, in political science and history at the University of Kansas in 1987 and his doctor of jurisprudence, with distinction, from Stanford Law School in 1990. He previously taught at four universities: Stanford, Puerto Rico, Wyoming, and Chapman. Prior to entering teaching, he practiced law for the largest law firm in San Antonio, Texas, and clerked for a federal appellate judge. Arnold also has a record of public service in disadvantaged communities and municipal government, including chairing the Planning Commission of Anaheim, CA. He currently is leading two grant-funded projects, one with Central High School students to assess land use conditions in a West Louisville neighborhood and one with the Kentucky Division of Water to assist local communities in identifying land development planning methods that protect water quality. He serves on several community boards and task forces in the Louisville Metro area.