Nicolas Retsinas

Nicolas P. Retsinas served as Director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies from 1998 to 2010. He was also a member of the faculty of the Harvard Business School, where he taught courses in housing finance and real estate in frontier markets, as well as being Senior Lecturer in Real Estate at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the Harvard Kennedy School. Prior to his Harvard appointment, Mr. Retsinas served as Assistant Secretary for Housing-Federal Housing Commissioner at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and as Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision under President Clinton. Mr. Retsinas served on the Board of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Housing Finance Board, and the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, and is a past Chair of the Board of Directors of Habitat for Humanity International. Mr. Retsinas currently chairs the Board of Directors of the Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation and the Providence Housing Authority, and is on the board of the Center for Responsible Lending. He received his Master’s degree in City Planning from Harvard University and his AB in Economics from New York University. Mr. Retsinas also received a Doctorate in Public Service from Rhode Island College.  In 2022, the Center and the Harvard Graduate School of Design announced the establishment of the Nicolas P. and Joan B. Retsinas Director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies and Senior Lecturer to honor Nic and his vision of inclusive and equitable housing programs and policy.