Hassan Aly, professor of economics (Marion), is one of seven new members elected to the board of trustees for The Economic Research Forum (ERF), a regional network dedicated to promoting economic research to contribute to sustainable development in the Arab countries, Iran and Turkey.

Established in 1993, ERF's core objectives are to build strong research capacity in the ERF region; to encourage the production of independent, high quality economic research; and to disseminate research output to a wide and diverse audience

Aly joined the Department of Economics in 1989 after spending a year at Alexandria University and two years as a visiting professor at Southern Illinois University. He is a faculty associate with Ohio State's Middle East Studies Center and John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy.

A chief research economist at the African Development Bank in 2009 and 2010, Aly applies his research to developing countries in general and the Middle East region in particular. He has published over 30 articles in national and international journals including AER, REStat, EDCC, World Development, andApplied Economics. He is co-editor of theAfrican Development Review and serves on the editorial board of theJournal of Development and Economic Policies and theInternational Journal of Applied Business and Economics Research.

Aly is currently serving as a research fellow with ERF. He will join the ERF board of trustees in March.