Association for University
Business and Economic Research

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The slate of officers and board members for 2022-2023 are as follows:

BRIAN LEWANDOWSKI

UNIV. OF COLORADO, BOULDER

Brian is Associate Director of the Business Research Division at the Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado Boulder. Brian provides regional business and economic information and education, including economic and revenue forecasts, policy studies, economic impact analyses, and data workshops. Brian has 13 years’ experience conducting economic studies at CU Boulder. Prior to CU, he worked in both the private sector and government. He is currently the President of the Denver Association of Business Economists.

JENNIFER GREEN

JACKSONVILLE STATE UNIVERSITY

Jennifer is Director of the Center of Economic Development and Business Research where she has worked for 10 years. She is responsible for leading the center’s community and economic development activities and outreach to 11 counties in Jacksonville State University’s regional footprint. She is also responsible for cultivating grants and contracts to fund economic development research opportunities.

MICHAEL J. HICKS

BALL STATE UNIVERSITY

Michael J. Hicks, PhD, is the George and Frances Ball Distinguished Professor of Economics and the Director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University. He previously served on the faculty of the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management and at research centers at Marshall University and the University of Tennessee. Full bio.

JOHN DESKINS

WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY

Deskins serves as Assistant Dean for Outreach and Engagement, Director of the Bureau of Business and Economic Research, and Associate Professor of Economics in the College of Business and Economics at West Virginia University. He leads the Bureau’s efforts to provide rigorous economic analysis and macroeconomic forecasting to leaders across the state. He received his PhD in Economics from the University of Tennessee. Full bio.

RAJEEV DHAWAN

GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY

Dr. Dhawan wears a dual hat as the Zwerner Chair of Economic Forecasting and as Director of the Economic Forecasting Center at the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia. As director of one of the country’s premiere forecasting centers, Dhawan develops forecasts for the U.S., Southeast regional and local metro Atlanta economies. These forecasts are regularly published and presented to business executives and the media at the Center’s popular, well-respected quarterly forecasting conferences. Full bio.

VANESSA FRY

BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY

Dr. Fry is Interim Director at the Idaho Policy Institute (IPI) where she leads students, staff, and faculty in providing innovative and objective research to help public, private, and nonprofit leaders overcome challenges and navigate change. She serves as Associate Research Professor in the School of Public Service where she teaches the MPA Capstone and co-teaches the Vertically Integrated Project Housing Opportunities for All. Dr. Fry is also an Adjunct Faculty Member at Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco where she received her MBA in Sustainable Management. Full bio.

NICOLE GISLASON

UNIV. OF WEST FLORIDA

Nicole Gislason is Executive Director of the University of West Florida Haas Center, part of UWF’s Division of Academic Affairs. She is Vice Chair of Florida’s Great Northwest and a Trustee with the Florida Chamber Foundation. She serves on the board of the Northwest Florida Manufacturers’ Council, and is a member of the Rotary Club of Pensacola and Pensacola IMPACT 100. Her previous work includes a public-private partnership between Florida’s manufacturing sector, the State, and the National Institute for Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). Full bio.

ROBERT GODBY

UNIV. OF WYOMING

Rob is currently Acting Associate Dean of the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Deputy Director of the Center for Energy Regulation and Policy, and associate professor in the Economics Department at the University of Wyoming. Additionally, he serves as an adjunct faculty member with the MBA program at Pforzheim University in Germany. Outside of his academic duties, he was appointed in 2019 to serve on the State of Wyoming’s Consensus Revenue Estimating Group. Full bio.

BRUCE KELLISON

UNIV. OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

Kellison is Director of the Bureau of Business Research, an applied economic research unit of the IC2 Institute at The University of Texas at Austin. He is former editor of Texas Business Review, a bi-monthly journal that disseminated business research to a wide readership of policymakers and business leaders. Under his leadership, the Bureau has won a number of research grants and contracts from a variety of sponsors, including the National Science Foundation, NASA, and the State of Texas.

VALORIE RICE

UNIV. OF ARIZONA

Valorie is the Business Information Specialist for the Economic and Business Research Center at the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management. She is involved with many of the department’s research projects including the Making Action Possible (MAP) Dashboard. Valorie’s forte is demographic and economic data for Arizona, particularly Census Bureau information, and writes articles on demographic issues for the Center’s publications.

MARC SCHAFFER

ST. NORBERT COLLEGE

Marc is director of the Center for Business & Economic Analysis (CBEA) at St. Norbert College. As director of the CBEA, he regularly gives presentations to the regional business community on the state of the economy and frequently appears in local media to provide commentary on current economic events. Marc’s primary research area is focused on monetary and financial economics with an emphasis on the behavior of financial institutions, about which he has published several articles in journals including Managerial Finance and Applied Economics. Full bio.

ERIC THOMPSON

UNIV. OF NEBRASKA, LINCOLN

Dr. Thompson is the Karl H. Nelson Associate Professor of Economics and the director of the Bureau of Business Research at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Through his work at the Bureau, Thompson provides economists with practical opportunities to conduct applied economic research and trains economics and business students to conduct applied research on timely economic and business topics. Thompson previously served as president (2013-2014) and as member of the board of directors (2017-2019). Full bio.

*Term extended by one year during pandemic.