Rea S. Hederman Jr. is executive director of the Economic Research Center and vice president of policy at The Buckeye Institute. In this role, Hederman oversees Buckeye’s research and policy output.

A nationally recognized expert in healthcare policy and tax policy, Hederman has published numerous reports and papers looking at returning healthcare power to the states, the impact of policy changes on a state’s economy, labor markets, and how to reform tax systems to spur economic growth.

Prior to joining Buckeye, Hederman was director, and a founding member of the Center for Data Analysis (CDA) at the Heritage Foundation, where he served as the organization’s top “number cruncher.” Under Hederman’s leadership, the CDA provided state-of-the-art economic modeling, database products, and original studies.

While at Heritage, Hederman also oversaw the organization’s technical research on taxes, healthcare, income and poverty, entitlements, energy, education, and employment, among other policy and economic issues. He was also responsible for managing Heritage’s legislative statistical analysis and econometric modeling.

Hederman’s commentary has been published in The Washington Post, The Washington Times, National Affairs, The Hill, National Review Online, and FoxNews.com, among others. He is regularly quoted by major newspapers and wire services, and has appeared on Fox News Channel, CNN, CNBC, and MSNBC.

Hederman graduated from Georgetown Public Policy Institute with a Master of Public Policy degree and holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia.