Karl F. Seidman is an economic development practitioner with 18 years experience in program design and management, the financing and supervision of complex development projects, program evaluation, and the preparation of development plans and strategies. He is also Lecturer at MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning where he teaches Economic Development Finance and Economic Development Planning. Mr. Seidman holds a Master's degree in Public Policy from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and a Bachelor's degree in political science from Amherst College. He is the author of over twenty-five reports and articles in books or professional journals, the editor of a book on defense conversion for economic development practitioners, and a frequent speaker on economic development at professional conferences.