Alexander Heil

Alex Heil, PhD, senior economist at The Conference Board, is an applied economist with more than 20 years of experience in the energy, environment, and infrastructure space. His work is centered on the energy transition, sustainability, renewable energy resources, urban economics, and how infrastructure and transportation will affect development patterns and economic trends.

Before joining The Conference Board, Heil was vice president for research at the Citizens Budget Commission, a think tank focused on the finances and operations of New York City and State governments. Prior to CBC, Heil was the chief economist of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. In that role, he analyzed regional economic conditions, conducted regional cost-benefit analysis, assessed the regional economic impacts of transportation investments, and undertook economic and financial project evaluations. He also worked as a consultant on energy and utility projects for private and public sector clients as an economist for CDM Smith, Inc.

Heil has been a frequent speaker and presenter at conferences and events for commercial real estate, transportation, and financial executives in the Greater New York metropolitan region and nationwide.

His background includes a strong focus on environmental economics and sustainability. He contributed to a Congressional Study on Investments in Transportation Resilience and has been an adjunct faculty member in the Sustainability Management program at Columbia University for nearly a decade. He also teaches in the Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at NYU.

Originally from Germany, he received his BSc from Hawai’i Pacific University in Honolulu, his MSc from Golden Gate University in San Francisco, and his PhD from the University of South Wales in the United Kingdom.