Roy Pearson

Biography

A faculty member since 1971, Roy retired in 2005, becoming Chancellor Professor Emeritus. Roy's specialty is forecasting, which he taught in the MBA program for three decades. From 1984 to 1998 as Director of the College's Bureau of Business Research he regularly published his quarterly two-year-ahead forecasts, and also ten-year forecasts, for Virginia and six of its metropolitan areas - and he continues to prepare national, state, and sub-state forecasts for businesses and government agencies.

Economic impact modeling is another specialty. Roy has prepared economic impact studies for government organizations, businesses, and non-profit organizations periodically since 1979. Recent published reports have been for the Port of Virginia (2008 and 2014), Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority (2012, 2013, and 2014), the Virginia Maritime Association (2016), Union Mission Ministries (2016), and in 2019 two for the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility.

Roy has served on the Governor's Advisory Board of Economists at the pleasure of eight Virginia governors, Robb, Baliles, Wilder, Allen, Warner, Kaine, McAuliffe, and Northam. He also has served on the Board of Directors of the International Institute of Forecasters (IIF), as Vice-President of the National Business and Economics Society, and as Associate Editor of IIF's Foresight: The International Journal of Applied Forecasting. President of the Virginia Association of Economists in 1990-91, he was named a Distinguished Fellow of the Association in 1998. In 1994-95, he was President of the Association for University Business and Economic Research, and in 1999 he was elected to honorary membership.  His other professional memberships include the National Association for Business Economics. He received a B.S. in Commerce and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Virginia.

Areas of Interest/Expertise

• Forecasting and futures scenarios
• Economic impact analysis
• Underwater photography (Master Scuba Diver)