MEDA 2009 Winter Conference Speaker Bio's

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Dr. Daraius Irani

Dr. Daraius Irani is the Director of the Applied Economics Group at RESI of Towson University. During his more than ten year tenure at RESI, Dr. Irani has managed and served as lead economist on a wide variety of research and analysis projects. The studies authored by Dr. Irani range from economic impact studies of Maryland industry, sporting and entertainment events and proposed real estate developments to studies that assess the economic impacts of proposed policy changes (i.e., tax structure revisions, the privatization of existing state functions, the expansion of public education services, etc.). Dr. Irani has performed this type of work for a host of public and private sector clients including: the Maryland Department of Human Resources, St. John's Property, BP, the Comptroller of Maryland, Sempra Energy, the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, Angle Technologies, the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, the Michaels Company, the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, and Manekin, LLC, among others.

Recently, Dr. Irani's team was instrumental in securing Towson University's designation as a U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA) University Center. With this designation, RESI has been able to provide much needed research and consulting services in support of economic development efforts within Baltimore City and Western Maryland. Dr. Irani also provides numerous economic presentations to organizations across Maryland. He has appeared on the Marc Steiner show, Maryland Public Television's Business Connection and he is often quoted in articles published by the Maryland Daily Record, the Baltimore Business Journal, the Baltimore Sun and the Washington Post.

Prior to joining RESI in 1997, Dr. Irani served as the senior economist at the Santa Barbara Economic Forecasting project where he developed county level economic forecasts for Santa Barbara County, San Luis Obispo County and Ventura County. In addition, he co-authored several reports including an analysis of the economic contributions of Central California's oil and gas industry and the tourism sector. Dr. Irani received his B.A. from the University of California, San Diego and obtained his Ph.D. and M.A. from the University of California at Santa Barbara. When not engaged in economic research and consulting, he enjoys golfing with his wife.