Edward (Ned) Hill

Edward (Ned) Hill is Professor of Economic Development at The Ohio State University's John Glenn College of Public Affairs and The Knowlton College of Architecture's section on City and Regional Planning. He is also the Senior Research Associate at the College of Engineering's Ohio Manufacturing Institute. He teaches economic development, state and local public policy and public economics. His current research focuses on the impact of digital manufacturing on corporate investment and public sector workforce strategies with his colleagues at the Ohio Manufacturing Institute. Ned continues his research on regional economic resilience, regional economic development and community development at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs. Cornell University Press published Economic Adversity and Regional Economic Resilience in 2017.

Hill frequently speaks on economic development, workforce issues and manufacturing modernization. Over the past two years the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, NPR's Marketplace, Energy News Network and many of Ohio's daily newspapers and public radio have interviewed Ned. The interviews have covered his recent research on the attempts to re-regulate electricity generation in Ohio, the manufacturing sector's performance in the U.S. and Ohio, workforce development and regional economic development.

Hill is a former Non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Institute (2000-2015), editor of Economic Development Quarterly (1994-2005), and chair and member of the advisory board of NIST's Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) (2007-2014). He also served as a board member of the MEP's Northeast Ohio affiliate, MAGNET (2008 to 2023). 

Ohio Governors Taft, Strickland, Kasich, DeWine, and former Ohio Speaker of the House of Representatives Batchelder appointed Hill to various Ohio state commissions and boards. He currently serves on the boards of economic advisors for the Ohio Office of Budget and Management and The Ohio Chamber of Commerce. 

The Cuyahoga County Mayors and Managers Association recognized Ned's service to the communities of Northeast Ohio in 2016 with its George V. Voinovich Municipal Service Award. The Ohio Manufacturers Association's Board of Directors presented Ned with its Legacy Award in 2005 and again in 2016 for his work on behalf of Ohio's manufacturers.

Before coming to Ohio State in 2015, Hill was Dean of the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University and Professor and Distinguished Scholar of Economic Development. 

Ned earned his Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning and Economics (1981) and Master in City Planning (1976) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.