Clinton Oster

Education

• Ph.D., Economics, Harvard University, 1978
• M.S., Urban and Public Affairs, Carnegie-Mellon University, 1973
• B.S.E., (with honors), Chemical Engineering, Princeton University, 1969

Biography

Dr. Clinton V. Oster Jr. is a nationally recognized expert in transportation policy, transportation safety, energy policy, environmental policy, and economic development. He has been with SPEA since 1979, serving as associate dean as well as director of the Transportation Research Center during his tenure.

Oster''s research on transportation has appeared in a wide variety of books and journals. He has co-authored five books on various aspects of air transportation including Managing the Skies: Public Policy, Organization, and Financing of Air Navigation and Why Airplanes Crash: Aviation Safety in a Changing World. His current research centers on air traffic management, aviation safety and security, airline economics and competition policy, and aviation infrastructure.

Oster has chaired five study committees for the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, including the Committee on the Effects of Commuting on Pilot Fatigue and the Committee for the Study of Traffic Safety Lessons from Benchmark Nations. He has served as a member of seven other study committees including the Committee for the Study of Air Traffic Controller Staffing, the Committee for the Study of Intercity Passenger Travel Issues and Opportunities in Short-Haul Markets, the Panel on Assessment of Pulsed Fast Neutron Analysis for Aviation Security, the Committee on the Social and Economic Impacts of Pathological Gambling, the Committee for the Guidance on Setting and Enforcing Speed Limits, and the Committee for the Study on Air Passenger Service and Safety Since Deregulation.

Oster has served as an expert witness for both the Environment and Natural Resource Division and the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. He has been a consultant on aviation and other transportation issues to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, NASA, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, state and local governments, and private sector companies in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Russia, and Australia.

Oster has been a member of the National Aviation Advisory Group of the U.S. Government Accountability Office and of the Aviation Network on Aviation Research and Policy for the Dutch Ministry of Transport. He is also a safety inspector and accident investigator for the Indycar and Firestone Indy Lights racing series.