Heather M. Stephens is a nonresident senior fellow in the Center for Sustainable Development at Brookings. She is a professor and director of the Regional Research Institute at West Virginia University.
Her research is focused on issues related to regional economic development and the differences in the impact of policies across regions. Her current and past research has examined questions related to energy, environmental quality, entrepreneurship, labor markets, health, and regional growth. Her prior work has been published in journals that include the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Environmental and Resource Economics, Growth and Change, Journal of Regional Science, Resource and Energy Economics, and Small Business Economics. She serves as an editor of the Journal of Regional Science and as founding co-editor of the outreach-oriented journal Reaching Regions.
Stephens is also chair of the technical advisory committee for the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development (NERCRD) and served two terms on the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) Advisory Council. She received her doctorate and a Master of Business Administration from Ohio State University and has a Bachelor of Arts in economics and public policy studies from Duke University. Previously, she was an assistant professor of economics and the director of economic research at California State University, Long Beach. She also has prior experience working for a U.S. congressman, on strategic partnership development for a Fortune 100 company, as a local economic development director, and on regional economic development and energy-related issues at a university-based applied research institute.
-
Current Positions
- Professor and Director of the Regional Research Institute, West Virginia University
-
Education
- Ph.D. in Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, Ohio State University (2012)
- MBA in Finance and Marketing, Ohio State University (2000)
- B.A. in Public Policy Studies and Economics, Duke University (1994)