William Fulton is a Terner Center Fellow. He is the Director of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University and a leading expert on California land-use planning and the implications of land-use planning on housing in the state.  

Prior to his work at the Kinder Institute, Fulton served as Director of Planning and Economic Development for the City of San Diego, Vice President for Policy at the advocacy group Smart Growth America, Principal and Shareholder at the California urban planning firm now known as Placeworks, and Mayor of Ventura, California. 

Fulton is the author of six books, including Guide to California Planning, the standard urban planning textbook in California, and The Reluctant Metropolis: The Politics of Urban Growth in Los Angeles, which was an L.A. Times best-seller. He holds master’s degrees in mass communication from The American University and urban planning from the UCLA.