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Keynote Speakers John Molinaro Associate Director, Community Strategies Group The Aspen Institute As associate director of Community Strategies Group at the Aspen Institute, John Molinaro helps lead the program’s efforts to build the economic and social viability of communities and regions throughout America, particularly in rural areas. John’s work with CSG primarily focuses on supporting the economic success of rural families - especially through community and workforce development, on rural philanthropy as a tool for community development, and on developing more strategic ways to use public and private policy to build rural America. John formerly served as Vice President of West Central Initiative (WCI), a hybrid rural community foundation that also serves as a community development corporation in rural Minnesota. While at WCI John developed pioneering programs linking economic and workforce development to transform the economy of its rural service region. John holds a Masters in Regional Planning from North Dakota State University and a Bachelor of Arts in writing from the University of Pittsburgh. John is a Certifi ed Economic Development Professional and a Certifi ed Housing Development Professional.  Jerry Dobson Professor of Geography, University of Kansas and President of the American Geographical Society Dr. Jerome E. (Jerry) Dobson is Professor of Geography at the University of Kansas, President of the American Geographical Society, and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. Much of his research has focused on global population geography with a special emphasis on the world’s most troubled regions. Before moving to Kansas, Dobson held the title of Distinguished Research & Development Staff Member at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he led the team that developed the most precise population database ever completed for the whole earth. The resulting LandScan Global Population Database has become the world standard for estimating populationsat- risk to support humanitarian efforts run by the United Nations, United States, and other governments. Dobson is widely recognized as a pioneer of geographic information systems (GIS), having started in 1975, long before GIS was available commercially. He will speak about how GIS can be used to regionalize Kansas. |
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