During his tenure as Florida's governor, Jeb Bush supported efforts to diversify his state's economy, develop biotechnology and improve the education system using monetary incentives. ASU President Michael Crow moderates this panel discussion featuring Governor Bush, Bill Harris of Science Foundation Arizona and Sue Clark Johnson of ASU's Morrison Institute for Public Policy. Topics discussed include economic development and education within the context of a better future for Arizona.
Jeb Bush was governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. During those eight years, he made notable investments to improve Florida’s future. In the area of biotechnology, Bush used public dollars to lure The Scripps Research Institute to expand to Florida. In education, he gave schools a letter grade ranging from A to F and rewarded schools for success with monetary bonuses. For the economy, he supported Enterprise Florida, a business-government partnership that works to diversify Florida’s economy and create businesses in innovative, high-growth industries.
Michael M. Crow became the 16th President of Arizona State University on July 1, 2002. He is guiding the transformation of ASU into one of the nation’s leading public metropolitan research universities, one that is directly engaged in the economic, social, and cultural vitality of its region. Under his direction the university pursues teaching, research, and creative excellence focused on the major challenges and questions of our time, as well as those central to the building of a sustainable environment and economy for Arizona. He has committed the university to global engagement, and to setting a new standard for public service. Since he took office, ASU has marked a number of important milestones, including the establishment of major interdisciplinary research initiatives such as the Biodesign Institute; the Global Institute for Sustainability; and MacroTechnology Works, a program integrating science and technology for large-scale applications, including the Flexible Display Center, a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Army. Prior to joining ASU, he was executive vice provost of Columbia University, where he also was professor of science and technology policy in the School of International and Public Affairs. As chief strategist of Columbia’s research enterprise, he led technology and innovation transfer operations, establishing Columbia Innovation Enterprises (now Science and Technology Ventures), the Strategic Initiative Program, and the Columbia Digital Media Initiative, as well as advancing interdisciplinary program development. A fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, he is the author of books and articles relating to the analysis of research organizations, technology transfer, science and technology policy, and the practice and theory of public policy.
Ross DeVol is Executive Director of Economic Research at the Milken Institute, leading the Center for Regional Economics, the Center for Health Economics and the California Center. DeVol oversees the Institute's research efforts on the dynamics of comparative national and regional growth performance. He is also an appointee to the California State Controller's Council of Economic Advisors. Since joining the Institute, DeVol has put his group in the national limelight with groundbreaking research on technology and its impact on regional and national economies. He is an expert on the new intangible economy and how regions can prepare themselves to compete in it. He examines the effects of technology, research and development activities, international trade, human capital and labor-force skills training, entrepreneurship, early-stage financing, and quality-of-place issues on the geographic distribution of economic activity. DeVol is ranked among the "Super Stars" of Think Tank Scholars by *International Economy* magazine. DeVol was the lead author of *Jobs for America: Investments and Policies for Economic Growth and Competitiveness*, which tackles the central question of the day: How can the United States jumpstart and sustain job growth? The policy changes analyzed – decreasing U.S. corporate tax rates to match the OECD average, increasing and making permanent the R&D tax credit, and modernizing export controls on certain products – would spur significant economic growth in the medium- to long-term. The report demonstrates that more than 3.5 million jobs can be created in each of the next three years by supporting investment in 10 key infrastructure project categories. DeVol was also the lead author on *North America’s High-Tech Economy: The Geography of Knowledge-Based Industries*, which revised and extended the Institute’s original work to include Canadian and Mexican metropolitan areas. It examined the locations and patterns of growth in 19 individual high-tech industry categories. This is believed to be the most detailed comparative assessment available for understanding North America’s high-tech landscape. In *Greater Philadelphia Life Sciences Cluster 2009: An Economic and Comparative Assessment*, he and his colleagues revised and extended the Institute’s original 2005 analysis of the Greater Philadelphia life-sciences cluster relative to 10 other leading clusters in the United States. In *State Technology and Science Index: Enduring Lessons for the Intangible Economy*, DeVol and his co-author examined how states need to remain strong in many technologies and stay on top in some. This annual index is well-received by policymakers, business executives and investors seeking to identify areas of strength and weakness to better target limited resources. He was the principal author of *An Unhealthy America: The Economic Burden of Chronic Disease*, which brought to light for the first time what is often overlooked in the discussion of the impact of chronic disease – the economic losses associated with preventable illness and the cost to the nation’s gross domestic product and U.S. businesses in lost growth. The study is the first of its kind to estimate the avoidable costs if a serious effort were made to improve Americans’ health. Other recent work involves the study of biotechnology and other life-sciences clusters, and the impact these industries have on regional economies. He was the lead author of *Mind-to-Market: A Global Analysis of University Biotechnology Transfer and Commercialization*, which was released in September 2006. This study looked at the transfer and commercialization of university-developed intellectual property on a global basis, with particular focus on biotechnology. DeVol was the lead author of *Biopharmaceutical Contributions to State and U.S. Economies*, released in October 2004, documenting the large economic impact of the industry and analyzing which states are best positioned for future growth. In *America's Biotech and Life Science Cluster*, he and his colleagues researched leading clusters and San Diego's position among them, and highlighted the key factors determining success. He co-authored *The Economic Contributions of Health Care to New England*, which constituted the first detailed examination of the concentration, innovation capacities, growth, and economic-multiplier impacts of health care in that region. He authored the policy brief *America's Health-Care Economy* in August 2003, providing the first comprehensive benchmarking of the nation's leading health-care clusters. He completed a significant study in July 1999, *America's High-Tech Economy: Growth, Development, and Risks for Metropolitan Areas*, an examination of how clusters of high-tech industries across the country affect economic growth in those regions. It has been translated into Chinese and published in China. His *Best Performing Cities: Where America’s Jobs Are Created*, published in November 2004 (with an updated edition released in September 2008), reveals which cities are creating jobs and economic opportunity and describes the factors determining long-term success. This is a continuation of research that was previously published annually by Forbes. He has authored studies examining how to harness the research and innovation capacity of a region to build high-tech clusters based on new technologies. Prior to joining the Institute, DeVol was senior vice president of Global Insight Inc. (formerly Wharton Econometric Forecasting), where he supervised the firm's Regional Economic Services group. DeVol supervised the respecification of Global Insight's regional econometric models and played an instrumental role in similar work on its U.S. Macro Model, originally developed by Nobel Laureate Lawrence Klein. He was the firm's chief spokesman on international trade. He also served as the head of Global Insight's U.S. Long-Term Macro Service and authored special reports on behalf of the U.S. Macro Group. DeVol was previously director of economic planning at CSX, where he was responsible for U.S. macroeconomic and industry analysis, and worked with former U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow. He was also an economist at Chase Econometrics and an economic analyst at Union Pacific. DeVol appears on national television and radio programs, including CNN’s "Moneyline," “Wall Street Journal Report with Maria Bartiromo,” Fox Business News, CNBC and NPR's "Talk of the Nation." He is frequently quoted in print media, such as *The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, Investor's Business Daily, The Los Angeles Times, Forbes, The Economist, Time, BusinessWeek*, and others. DeVol earned his master’s degree in economics at Ohio University and received advanced training in economics at Carnegie Mellon University.
Susan Clark-Johnson became Executive Director of Morrison Institute for Public Policy in May 2009. She retired as President of the Gannett Newspaper Division in May 2008 after 41 years in a variety of news and executive leadership roles with the company. Gannett is a large diversified news and information company with headquarters in McLean, VA., and operations in 41 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, the United Kingdom, Canada, Belgium, Germany, Hong Kong and Singapore. It is the USA’s largest newspaper group in terms of circulation. The company’s 85 daily newspapers in the USA have a combined circulation of about 4 million. The Newspaper Division, which also includes about 80 websites and about 1000 weekly newspapers, shoppers and magazines, is the largest division of the Gannett Company. Prior to being named Gannett Newspaper Division President, Clark-Johnson was Chairman and CEO of Phoenix Newspapers, Inc. as well as Senior Group President of Gannett's Pacific Newspaper Group with oversight responsibility for thirty-two companies throughout the West, including Hawaii and Guam. During her newspaper career she worked in Niagara Falls, N.Y., Binghamton, N.Y. and Reno, NV. In addition to her role as newspaper executive for Gannett, she also served a term as Chairwoman of the Newspaper Association of America. She has been recognized by numerous organizations including lifetime achievement awards from The Washington Women’s Center, and the National Association of Female Executives. She was awarded the Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award for Diversity efforts from the National Association of Minority Media Executives and the Jerry J. Wisotsky Torch of Liberty Award from the Anti-Defamation League. She is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations; on the board of directors of Pinnacle West, the parent company of APS, and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGEN); and Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University. Clark-Johnson is a member of the O'Connor House board of directors and chair of the O'Connor House advisory group. She also is a former board member of Morrison Institute. Clark-Johnson is a graduate of State University of New York at Binghamton, from which she also received an honorary doctorate. She and her husband, Brooks, live in Paradise Valley, Az. and Lake Tahoe, NV.
Dr. Harris is the president and chief executive officer of Science Foundation Arizona (SFAz). Prior to joining SFAz, Dr. William C. Harris was in Ireland serving as director general of Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), a new Irish agency that helped facilitate tremendous growth in Ireland’s R&D sector during Harris’ tenure. Immediately prior to going to Ireland, Dr. Harris was vice president of research and professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of South Carolina (USC). There, he oversaw research activities throughout the USC system, several interdisciplinary centers and institutes, the USC Research Foundation and sponsored research programs. Dr. Harris served at the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) from 1978 to 1996, including as the director for mathematical and physical sciences (1991-1996). He was responsible for federal grants appropriation of $750 million. He also established 25 Science and Technology Centers to support investigative, interdisciplinary research by multi-university consortia. Earlier in his career, he catalyzed the Research Experience for Undergraduates program in the chemistry division and it became an NSF-wide activity. In 2005, Dr. Harris was elected a member of the Irish Royal Academy, and received the Wiley Lifetime Achievement Award from California Polytechnic State University. He has authored more than 50 research papers and review articles in spectroscopy and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Harris earned his undergraduate degree at the College of William and Mary, and received his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of South Carolina.