John C. Austin

John Austin is the former President of the Michigan State Board of Education. Austin directs the Michigan Economic Center, a center for ideas and network-building to advance Michigan’s economic transformation. Austin also serves as a nonresident senior fellow with the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and the Upjohn Institute, where he leads these organizations efforts to support economic transformation in the American Midwest. Austin also Lectures on the Economy at the University of Michigan. Austin’s series of publications on The Avenue since the 2016 Presidential election on the politics and economy in the Midwest swing states have informed the national and international understanding of this important economic and political region. In 2020, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs released Austin’s report “A Global Midwest: The Path to New Prosperity,” which provides an updated analysis of the Great Lakes/Midwest Economy from the seminal Brookings 2006 publication “The Vital Center,” also authored by Austin. At the Michigan Economic Center, Austin has spurred work to transform Michigan’s economy. In 2015, working with the Michigan College Access Network (MCAN), Austin created the “Michigan Higher Education Attainment Roundtable (MIHEART),” which brings together the state’s business, education, higher education State Administration in strategies to increase residents' attainment of post-secondary credentials and reduce higher education cost. MiHEART’s 2015 blueprint for action has been largely implemented. Austin also served in 2004 as Policy Director for Michigan’s Governor-appointed Commission on Higher Education and Economic Growth, and was principal author of the Commission’s influential report. In addition, Austin was the chief architect of Governor Granholm’s urban strategy and helped stand-up her newly created Department of Labor, Energy and Economic Growth and a state workforce development strategy. Austin received his Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, and a Bachelors from Swarthmore College in Economics & Political Science, with High Honors and Phi Beta Kappa.