John D. Kasarda is director of the Center for Air Commerce at UNC's Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise. Dr. Kasarda is also Kenan Distinguished Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School. He has published more than 100 articles and ten books on airport cities, aviation infrastructure, urban economic development, and competitiveness. He is frequently quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Business Week, and international media. Dr. Kasarda has offered numerous executive programs on air logistics, firm siting, global supply-chain management, and airport area development to multinational firms such as Boeing, Airbus, FedEx, Lufthansa, DHL, Thai Airways International, Caterpillar Logistics, Prudential Real Estate, Bank of America and Deloitte & Touche. He also chairs the annual Airport Cities World Conference and Exhibition and has been an advisor to airports around the globe. Under his leadership, the Kenan Institute was named the world's top air logistics educational institution by The International Air Cargo Association for its work on airports and economic development.

Dr. Kasarda received his B.S. and M.B.A. (with Distinction) from Cornell University and his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina. He has been the recipient of many grants and awards from such organizations as the International Civil Aviation Organization, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, World Bank, National Science Foundation, National Academy of Sciences, the United Nations Development Program, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Dr. Kasarda has been elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for his research on airport-driven economic development and a Senior Fellow and Trustee of the Urban Land Institute. He is considered the leading developer of the Aerotropolis concept defining the roles of aviation and airports in shaping 21st century business location, urban competitiveness, and economic growth. In 2011, Time magazine named Aerotropolis "One of the Ten Ideas that Will Change the World."

"The U.S. and Western Europe often view airports as nuisances and environmental threats rather than as critical infrastructure to compete and prosper. This has resulted in their maligning and neglecting airports while Asia and the Middle East invest heavily to leverage them. Such malign neglect comes at the long-term economic peril of the West."