Ron Hira

Dr. Ron Hira, Ph.D., P.E., is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Howard University. Ron is also a research associate with the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, DC. Prior to joining Howard, Ron was an assistant and then associate professor and acting chair in the Department of Public Policy at Rochester Institute of Technology. He specializes in policy issues on technological innovation, offshoring, high-skill immigration, and the American engineering workforce.

Hira has written widely on offshoring, high-skilled immigration, innovation, and the decline of the middle class. Hira is co-author of the book, Outsourcing America (AMACOM 2005; 2nd edition 2008), which was a finalist for best business book in the PMA's Benjamin Franklin Awards. The Boston Globe called Outsourcing America an "honest, disturbing look at outsourcing." The Washington Post described the book as a "thorough and easy to grasp primer on the wrenching outsourcing debate."

In 2012, along with Prof. John Ettlie, Hira organized a National Science Foundation workshop on the Globalization of Engineering Research & Development. The result of the workshop is being turned into a book.

Previously, Ron worked as a control systems engineer and program manager with Sensytech, NIST, and George Mason University (GMU). He has been a consultant to numerous public and private organizations.

Ron completed his Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Columbia University's Center for Science, Policy, and Outcomes. He holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy from George Mason University (GMU), an M.S. in Electrical Engineering also from GMU, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Carnegie-Mellon University. He is a licensed professional engineer, a senior member of IEEE, and served as Vice President for Career Activities of IEEE-USA, the largest engineering professional society in America.