Careers
Ross DeVol
Ross DeVol is Chief Research Officer at the Milken Institute. He oversees the Institute's research on the dynamics of comparative regional growth performance, and technology and its impact on regional and national economies. He is an expert on the intangible economy and how regions can prepare themselves to compete in it. He authored the ground-breaking study, America's High-Tech Economy: Growth, Development, and Risks for Metropolitan Areas, an examination of how clusters of hightechnology industries across the country affect economic growth in those regions. He also created the Best Performing Cities Index, an annual ranking of U.S. metropolitan areas that shows where jobs are being created and economies are growing. His most 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 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 the field of biotechnology. Prior to joining the Institute, DeVol was senior vice president of Global Insight, Inc. (formerly Wharton Econometric Forecasting), where he supervised their Regional Economic Services group. 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 numerous special reports on behalf of the U.S. Macro Group. He is ranked among the "Super Stars" of Think Tank Scholars by International Economy magazine.