Vicino began his academic career in 2006 at the University of Texas at Arlington as an assistant professor in the School of Urban and Public Affairs, focusing on economic development and metropolitan governance.[5] He later joined Wheaton College in Massachusetts as an assistant professor of political science in 2008.[1] In 2009, he was appointed to the faculty at Northeastern University, where he advanced from assistant professor to full professor in the Department of Political Science and the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs.[3]
Over fifteen years at Northeastern University, Vicino held several leadership roles, including program director of the Master of Public Administration (2011–2017), associate chair and then chair of the Department of Political Science (2016–2019), and Associate Dean of the College of Social Sciences and Humanities (2019–2024).
In March 2024, Vicino was appointed the eighth dean of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University, where he is also appointed as a full professor in the Urban Studies Institute.[6]
Vicino’s scholarship centers on the political economy of metropolitan development, with a particular focus on how cities and suburbs evolve under shifting demographic, economic, and governance pressures.[7]
His early empirical work on suburban Baltimore drew national attention for documenting the stagnation and socioeconomic decline occurring in many older suburbs, areas once considered stable middle-class communities but increasingly marked by aging housing stock, rising poverty, and demographic transformation.[8] His analysis of Baltimore County’s suburbs highlighted patterns of population loss, racial change, infrastructure deterioration, and uneven school performance, underscoring the need for sustained public and private reinvestment in older suburban communities.[9]
Across his research, Vicino introduced the concept of “new metropolitan realities,” rejecting the traditional model of a central city surrounded by a uniform suburban ring.[10]
His work emphasized the heterogeneity of suburban places, the emergence of both prosperity and distress in the suburbs, and the consequences of decentralized urban growth for inequality, housing markets, and regional planning.[11]
His analyses have been cited in reporting on issues of downtown revitalization,[12] deindustrialization,[7] demographic change,[13] suburban sprawl,[14] and international migration.[15]
As a Fulbright U.S. Scholar in Brazil, he conducted research on urban governance, large-scale redevelopment, and the sociopolitical complexities of rapid urban transformation.[16]
His research on Brazil examined the country’s economic volatility, urban development challenges surrounding events like the World Cup and the Olympics, and longer-term political and demographic trends shaping the country’s trajectory.[17]
