Biography

Ataman Ozyildirim, PhD, is the director of economic research and global research chair at The Conference Board. He specializes in the development of economic indicators and in forecasting aggregate economic activity worldwide. He also oversees The Conference Board’s Global Economic Outlook and the research program in productivity, innovation, and competitiveness. His research interests span measurement and analysis of business cycles, forecast evaluation, international economics, and development economics.  Ozyildirim is a faculty member in MS in applied economics at Boston College. He has published in international, peer-reviewed academic journals including the Journal of Development Economics, Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, Journal of Monetary Economics, Journal of Forecasting, and China Economic Journal. He is also a co-editor and contributor to the Handbook on Cyclical Composite Indicators and Business Cycles in BRICS.Ozyildirim often speaks to business and professional audiences on economic and business cycle trends and is frequently cited by national and global media.

Ozyildirim joined The Conference Board in 1999 as part of the Global Business Cycle Indicators Program that produces The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® for the United States, the Euro Area, China, and ten other countries. Previously, Ozyildirim worked for Management Science Associates, Inc. and was a lecturer at the Pennsylvania State University. Originally from Istanbul, he received his BA from Ithaca College and his PhD from the Pennsylvania State University.