About the Authors
Bob Gleeson and Bill Bowen have been faculty colleagues, friends, and co-authors at Cleveland State University's nationally ranked Levin School of Urban Affairs since Bob arrived at CSU in 2014. Bob serves as Professor and Albert A. Levin Chair of Urban Studies & Public Service and Bill recently changed his status to Professor Emeritus. They are co-authors of The Evolution of Human Settlements: From Pleistocene Origins to Anthropocene Prospects (Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019).
Bill is a regional scientist who has specialized in public sector decision-making and problem solving in regional economic development, energy policy, environmental issues, and higher education for over thirty years. Bill's research and teaching have played major roles in transforming CSU's start-up program in urban studies into one the nation's top three urban policy programs. He has also played many crucial roles in university governance having twice been elected by his colleagues to serve as president of CSU's Faculty Senate. Bill earned his MPA degree while serving as a Supply Officer in the U.S. Navy and later earned his Ph.D. in regional analysis and planning from Indiana University at Bloomington.
Bob is an urban historian and policy analyst trained to use historical knowledge to frame contemporary policy issues to help inform and improve public policy. Before joining CSU he served as VP of research and Thomas C. Sutton Chair at the Public Policy Institute of California. Other jobs have included: director of the Center for Governmental Studies at Northern Illinois University; associate professor of management and public policy at Duquesne University; founding director of the Pittsburgh Robotics Initiative; founding executive director of Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for Economic Development; director of economic development for the Pittsburgh High Technology Council; capital planner for Allegheny County (Pennsylvania) government; and management consultant for the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Bob earned his MPP degree at Harvard's Kennedy School and his Ph.D. in history & policy at Carnegie Mellon.
Bob and his wife Denise live in the Cleveland suburb of Beachwood, Ohio. Bill and his wife Chieh-Chen split their time between their home in Pepper Pike, Ohio and their boat See-Sea, which can be found somewhere in the Chesapeake Bay or the Caribbean Sea depending on the season.
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