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By Steve Gilliam, University Relations
Contact: (336) 334-5619
Posted 2-16-09
GREENSBORO, NC — University research parks, like Greensboro’s Gateway University Research Park, co-operated by UNCG and N.C. A&T State University, are becoming engines for regional economic growth and development.
To provide a better understanding of the economics of U.S. research parks, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $190,910 to economics professor Dr. Albert N. Link of UNCG to document the research and productivity benefits associated with companies that locate in research parks.
Link is recognized internationally as a leading academic scholar on the economics of university research parks. Last year, he spoke about the economic role of U.S. research parks in his keynote address to the United Nations in Geneva. He serves as the U.S. representative to and vice-chairperson of the UN Economic Commission for Europe on innovation and competitiveness.
The two-year award follows a long history of NSF support of Link’s research in the field of innovation and technological changes. Link’s research has been funded without interruption by NSF for the past 30 years.
Link is author of two books on the history of Research Triangle Park, arguably the most successful science park in the world: A Generosity of Spirit: The Early History of the Research Triangle Park, was published in (1995) and From Seed to Harvest: The History of the Growth of the Research Triangle Park (2002). Link joined the economics faculty of the Bryan School of Business & Economics at UNCG in 1982 and has served as both department head and director of the MBA program in the Bryan School of Business & Economics in previous years.