Elisabeth Reynolds

Elisabeth Reynolds serves as Professor of the Practice at MIT, focusing on systems of innovation, manufacturing competitiveness, and regional economic development after serving as Special Assistant to President Biden for Manufacturing and Economic Development at the National Economic Council. Her career spans leadership roles in academia and public policy, including serving as Principal Research Scientist and Executive Director of MIT's Industrial Performance Center, where she co-led the influential MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future with Professors David Autor and David Mindell. Her research examines how entrepreneurial firms scale production technologies and advance manufacturing capabilities, with particular attention to cluster development and regional innovation systems. Before earning her PhD from MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning, she directed the City Advisory Practice at the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, focusing on urban economic growth. A graduate of Harvard with an A.B. in Government, she was a Fiske Scholar at Trinity College, Cambridge, and holds an M.Sc. in Economics from the University of Montreal. Her work continues to shape national manufacturing strategy and industrial policy through her roles advising organizations like the Manufacturing USA Institute and the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative