Robert E. Gleeson, Ph.D.
Director
Center for Governmental Studies
Phone: (815) 753-1907
E-mail: rgleeson@niu.edu
Robert E. Gleeson, Ph.D. serves as Director of Northern Illinois University’s Center for Governmental Studies (www.cgsniu.org) He also serves as Associate Director of NIU’s newly-formed Regional Development Institute. Gleeson joined NIU in July of 2003.
Previous Professional Experiences:
- Associate Professor of Management and Public Policy, and
Faculty Director, Institute for Economic Transformation, John F. Donahue Graduate School of Business Administration,
Graduate Center for Social and Public Policy, Duquesne University
(8 years)
- Executive Director (part-time), Pittsburgh Robotics Initiative (2 years);
- Visiting Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Management, H. John Heinz School of Public Policy and Management, Carnegie Mellon University (2 years);
- Executive Director, Center for Economic Development, H. John Heinz School of Public Policy and Management, Carnegie Mellon University (5 years);
- Director of Economic Development, Pittsburgh High Technology Council (1.5 years)
- Senior Capital Planner, Allegheny County Government, Pennsylvania (2 years)
- Management Consultant, Business Strategy Services, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (3 years)
- Assistant Field Director, Americans for S.A.L.T., Washington DC (1 year)
Education:
- Ph.D., History and Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, 1997
- M.P.P., John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 1982
- B.S., Applied History, Carnegie Mellon University, 1980.
Current Public Service:
- Board Member, Community Collaboration, Inc., Rockford IL (non-profit)
- Board Member, DuPage Federation for Human Services, Wheaton, IL
- Board Member, DuPage Workforce Board, Lisle, IL
- Advisory Board Member, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning
- Economic and Community Development Committee
- Human Services Committee
- Advisory Board Member, Metropolitan Plan Council, Chicago, IL
- Regional Development Committee
- Assistant Scoutmaster, Troop 2, Three Fires Council, Boy Scouts of America
Gleeson also teaches graduate-level courses in public administration and regional economic development policy as an adjunct faculty member at NIU and Northwestern University. His most recent publication is a chapter in a book about metropolitan economic development published by the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C.
Bob and his wife Denise have two children and live near NIU in Sycamore, Illinois.
