Bart van Ark is executive vice president, chief economist, and chief strategy officer at The Conference Board. He leads a team of almost two dozen economists in New York, Brussels, and Beijing who produce a range of widely watched economic indicators and growth forecasts as well as in-depth global economic research.

A Dutch national, he is the first non-US chief economist in the history of The Conference Board. Van Ark is also responsible for strategy development and major new initiatives at The Conference Board. He continues to steward the longstanding research collaboration between The Conference Board and the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, where he has been a professor since 2000 and holds the university’s chair in economic development, technological change, and growth.