G. Jason Jolley, Ph.D.

G. Jason Jolley, Ph.D. serves as Interim Associate Vice President for Research and Creative Activity at Ohio University where he coordinates economic development activities across the university. In his faculty role, he serves as Professor of Rural Economic Development and MPA Director at Ohio University’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service. He also directs the Center for Economic Development and Community Resilience. Prior to joining Ohio University in 2013, Dr. Jolley spent seven years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Kenan Institute/Kenan-Flagler Business School where he co-led the largest state sponsored study of the effectiveness of economic development incentives for the North Carolina General Assembly.

Dr. Jolley has served as principal investigator on over $10 million in sponsored research funding and co-led efforts to secure an additional $2 million in federal funding and $1 million in state funding for regional economic development partners. His portfolio includes funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, Appalachian Regional Commission, Small Business Administration, Ohio Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation, Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and JobsOhio, among others. Dr. Jolley also leads Ohio University portion of the Ohio Economic Development Institute (OEDI), in partnership with the Ohio Economic Development Association (OEDA) and JobsOhio. OEDI provides state level certification to Ohio economic developers.

Dr. Jolley serves as Executive Director of the Mid-Continent Regional Science Association and is a former board member of the University Economic Development Association. In 2022, he served as an advisor to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia on their Anchor Economy Initiative to better understand the role of higher education institutions and hospitals (eds and meds) on regional economies. In 2016, Governor John Kasich, and the leadership of the Ohio Senate and Ohio House of Representatives appointed Dr. Jolley as the state’s Nonpartisan Census Liaison. In this role, he led Voinovich School staff in building the redistricting database used to draw legislative districts for the U.S. House of Representatives, Ohio House of Representatives, and Ohio Senate districts.

Dr. Jolley maintains an active service portfolio. As the father of daughters with developmental disabilities, he is a passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities. He serves as Vice-President of the Athens County Board of Developmental Disabilities; on the Board of Trustees and as Treasurer of the Ohio Association of County Boards of Developmental Disabilities; and on the Board of Trustees and Vice-Chair of the Arc of Ohio. Dr. Jolley is a leader in the multi-stakeholder public, private, and nonprofit Ohio Developmental Disability Crisis partnership that promotes long-term financial sustainability of Ohio’s developmental disabilities system.