Kurt Finsterbusch is Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland who specializes in Social Impact Assessment, the Sociology of Development, and Environmental Sociology. In the first area he wrote Social Research for Policy Decisions (with Annabelle Bender Motz) and Understanding Social Impacts and edited with others three major works on social impact assessment methodology. In the second area he wrote with Jerry Hage Organizational Change as a Development Strategy. In the third area he is currently writing a book on society and the environment.