Staff Members
Michael C. Carroll - Director
Michael C. Carroll, Ph.D. is the Director of BGSU's Center for Regional Development and Associate Professor of Economics. Dr. Carroll's business and economics career dates from 1982 and includes service as an assistant professor of economics, corporate controller, operations manager, and a corporate presidency. His research interests focus on regional economic development strategies and social economics.
Dr. Carroll is Editor-in-Chief of Regional Science Policy & Practice and Associate Editor of Economic Development Quarterly. His writings have appeared in a variety of academic journals including, the Journal of Economic Issues, Annals of Regional Science, Review of Social Economy, and the Industrial Geographer. Dr. Carroll's first book, A Future of Capitalism: The Economic Vision of Robert Heilbroner was published by Macmillan and St. Martin's Press in 1998. His most recent book Local Economic Development is co-authored with CRD Visiting Scholar, John P. Blair. The book is published by Sage Publications.
Dr. Carroll has taught at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. He has held economics faculty positions at Colorado State University, Muskingum College, West Virginia State University, and currently, Bowling Green State University. Dr. Carroll earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Wright State University and his Ph.D. from Colorado State University.
Will M. Burns - Assistant Director
Will Burns joined the Center for Regional Development (CRD) as Assistant Director in June of 2006. Will's primary responsibility is delivering CRD's technical assistance programs and enhancing university engagement efforts. He has extensive practical economic and community development experience.
Prior to joining CRD he spent the last 16+ years in community and economic development in Northwestern Ohio. For most of that time he served as Director of Community and Economic Development for the Maumee Valley Planning Organization (MVPO). His primary function at MVPO was assisting both new and existing companies with financing packages for capital expansions and funding for infrastructure improvements
Will is a member of the Ohio Department of Development's Economic Development Advisory Committee, an affiliate board member of the Northwest Ohio Regional Economic Development agency and a member of the Northwest Ohio Development Assistance Corporation. He is a past executive board member of the Ohio Conference on Community Development (OCCD) and previously served as a member of the State Programs Committee.
Will is a graduate of Bowling Green State University with a BA in Political Science and a MA in Geography. He is also a certified development financing professional through the National Development Council.
Joetta S. Kynard - Office Manager
Joetta S. Kynard joined the Center for Regional Development (CRD) as Office Manager in June of 2011. Joetta's primary responsibility is to work closely with Dr. Carroll and the staff in the day-to-day operations of the Center.
She has worked in the higher education industry for over 10 years. Prior to joining the CRD she worked at the BGSU Women's Center and the Office of Human Resources. During Joetta's employment at BGSU she has developed a diverse skill-set specializing in office administration and technology. She is near completion of her Bachelor degree in Science of Technology in the Advanced Technological Education program. Joetta's future career aspiration is to pursue a Master degree in higher education administration.
Some of her accomplishments include receiving the BGSU Classified Staff Spirit and Falcon Feminist awards. Joetta currently serves as the Chair of the Professional Development committee of the BGSU Classified Staff Council and is a Group Planning member of the Classified Staff Leadership Institute. In Joetta's spare time she enjoys relaxing on her boat "My Peace", listening to jazz music and reading.
Research Assistants
- Jialin Liu
- Jiefan Yu
- Shiyun Zhou