| Staff
Bruce A. Wright
Associate Vice President for Economic Development
Bruce Wright is responsible for directing the University of Arizona’s economic development programs, including the Office of Economic Development and the Office of Economic and Policy Analysis. He serves as the Chief Operating Officer of the University of Arizona Science and Technology Park.
He is founder and president of the Arizona Center for Innovation, a high technology business incubator.
Wright is also an adjunct instructor in the department of Geography and Regional Development.
Wright’s research interests include regional economic development, international trade and business development, and technology development and commercialization.
Wright has served in several different capacities during his years at the University of Arizona, including Director of the Office of Community and Public Service, Assistant to the President, and Senior Officer for Community Affairs and Economic Development. Prior to joining the University, he served as chief of staff to U.S. Representative Morris K. Udall and staff consultant to the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. Previously, he was a management analyst with the City of Tucson and deputy director of the Commission on Improved Governmental Management.
Wright is active in many professional associations. He is a member of the International Economic Development Council, Association of University Research Parks, National Business Incubator Association, Arizona Association of Economic Development and America-Israel Friendship League. He serves on the board of directors of the Arizona-Mexico Commission and is a member of the Governor’s CANAMEX Task Force. He is a member of Southern Arizona Leadership Council and sits on the Mayor’s Economic Development Task Force.
Wright has been active in numerous community organizations. He is a past chair of the Southern Arizona Chapter (Tucson) of the American Red Cross. He also served on the board of Information and Referral Service. He is a member of the DM 50. Recently, he served on the Regional Transportation Authority’s Citizen’s Advisory Committee
Jessica Burger
Research Specialist
Ms. Burger provides support for marketing and public relations activities by overseeing a marketing database, updating the websites, aiding in the recruitment of technology companies, tracking press for the office, international event planning, development of the Tucson – Guadalajara Program and managing the UA Science and Technology Park Speaker Series.
Prior to coming to the Office of Economic Development, Ms. Burger received her B.A. in Economics from The University of Arizona. She is a board member of Tucson-Mexico Sister Cities.
Diane Cardiel
Excutive Assistant
Diane Cardiel is Executive Assistant to Bruce Wright, Associate Vice President for Economic Developmet at The University of Arizona.
Prior to joining the Office of Economic Development in August of 2005, she was with the Africana Studies Program at the UA, and held the position of Departmental Administrative Secretary.
Ms. Cardiel is seeking to finish a Bachelor Degree in Communication with a Spanish minor from The University of Arizona.
David A. de Kok
Program Director
Mr. de Kok directs and authors the quarterly Metropolitan Tucson Land Use Study. Educated as an anthropologist and geographer at The University of New Mexico, he has held a variety of research positions at the University since 1980.
His research specialties include cultural ecology, rural development, demographic and housing analysis and land use assessment. de Kok has co-authored and edited several reports for Arizona Town Hall most recently Health Care Options: Healthy Aging – Later Life Decisions (2003), Arizona’s Water Future: Challenges and Opportunities (2005) and Arizona’s Rapid Growth and Development: Natural Resources and Infrastructure (2006)
Linda Francis
Department Administrator
Ms. Francis is responsible for maintaining a departmental budget and the finances for the organization, serves as the human resources manager and administers sponsored projects for both the Office of Economic Development and the Office of Economic and Policy Analysis.
Previously she worked for the UA Athletic Department where she served as a data entry clerk, accountant, business manager and director of Wildcat Club ticket operations.
A graduate of the University of Arizona, Ms. Francis earned a B.S. in Public Management with an emphasis in Accounting.
Lay Gibson
Senior Fellow
An active researcher and consultant, Dr. Gibson focuses on projects which are designed to inform public and private sector decision makers who are seeking efficient locations for facilities or who are concerned with developing and implementing strategies to more effectively manage regional systems to assure their competitiveness.
He is the author of numerous books, professional publications, reports, and articles. Gibson is co-author of Economic Geography published by Prentice-Hall, and co-editor of Impactos Regionales de las Relaciones Economicas Mexico-Estados Unidos (El Colegio de Mexico), The U.S. Mexico: Borderland Development and the National Economies (Westview Press), Regional Structural Change: Experience and Prospects in Two Mature Economies (Regional Science Research Institute), and Applied Geography: A World Perspective which was published by Kluwer in 2004.
Dr. Gibson has been honored with both the Richard Preston and Howard Roepke prizes for his contributions to the development profession by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). The Arizona Association for Economic Development has presented him their Long-term Excellence in Economic Development Award. He is the Past President of the Regional Science Association International, the Pacific Regional Science Association, and the Western Regional Science Association. He was awarded the Association of American Geographer’s James Anderson Medal for his work in applied economic geography. In 2005 the University of Arizona named him a University Distinguished Outreach Professor to recognize his contributions to applied research and his efforts to improve the practice of economic development and regional analysis in industry and government and the University’s Office of Economic Development made him a Senior Fellow. Dr. Gibson is a member of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC)
Molly Gilbert
Assistant Director
Ms. Gilbert assist in the management of strategic initiatives and special projects for the Office of Economic Developmen and manages public, community and media relations for the Office of Economic Development (OED), Office of Economic and Policy Analysis (OEPA), the UA Tech Park (UASTP) and the Arizona Center for Innovation (AzCI).
Her previous experience includes working as an educator, primarily at the middle school level and management of a retail store.
Ms. Gilbert earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Media Arts, with an emphasis in Production and a Masters in Business Administration, with an emphasis in Entrepreneurship and Marketing, from the University of Arizona and a post-baccalaureate Teaching Certificate from the University of Phoenix. She is a member of the Association of University Research Parks (AURP) and the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). She has served on the Steering Committee for Citizen Schools in Tucson, Arizona and currently chairs a public outreach committee for Vail High School.
John D. Grabo, CEcD
Director of International Programs
Mr. Grabo directs an international outreach and strategic relationship program that connects partners and their cities’ universities, business incubators, research parks and businesses.
Prior to joining the Office of Economic Development, Grabo served as Vice President of Corporate Relations for the Greater Tucson Economic Council, where he was Interim President and CEO during 2000-2001.
Mr. Grabo is a graduate of The University of Arizona, where he majored in Marketing and earned a B.A. in Business Administration. He is also a member of the International Economic Development Council, the Arizona Association for Economic Development, and the Greater Tucson Strategic Partnership for Economic Development, for which he co-chairs legislative and marketing committees.
Raffi Gruener, Ph.D.
Director of Technology Initiatives
Dr. Gruener serves as a liaison between the Office of Economic Development and UA researchers as well as Israeli technology companies. He also provides strategic and policy support in the area of biotechnology as it relates to economic development and the development of the Arizona Bioscience Park.
Dr. Gruener is a bench scientist specializing in the physiology and pathophysiology of excitable cells. He has published more than 50 peer reviewed papers. As a university instructor, Gruener has taught medical, graduate, and undergraduate students and has mentored residents in anesthesiology and neurology.
Dr. Gruener earned a B.S. from the University of California, Berkeley in Physiology, a M.S. from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana in Physiology/Biophysics as well as a Ph.D. in Physiology and Biochemistry. He is a member of the Foreign Advisory Board of Nagoya University Research Institute in Environmental Medicine, the Physiological Society, the Biophysical Society, and the Society for Neuroscience. He is a member of the Arizona BioIndustry Association.
Gary Pivo, Ph.D.
Senior Fellow
Dr. Pivo holds appointments at The University of Arizona as Professor of Urban Planning, Professor of Natural Resources and Senior Fellow in the Office of Economic Development. His current research is on socially responsible property investing, and he currently teaches courses on the land development process and controlling private development near conservation areas.
Dr. Pivo has previously served as Chair of the Department of Urban Design and Planning at the University of Washington. He also has served as Associate Dean of the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture, Dean of the Graduate College, and Director of Graduate Interdisciplinary Programs at The University of Arizona.
Dr. Pivo is an alumnus of the U.S. Presidential Management Internship Program and holds a B.A. in Social Ecology from the University of California, Irvine, a M.A. in Regional Planning from Cornell University, and a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. |