Dr. William Lehr is an economist and industry consultant. He is a research associate in the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, currently working with the Communications Futures Program ( http://cfp.mit.edu ), which is an industry-academic multidisciplinary research effort focused on road mapping the communications value chain.

Previously, Dr. Lehr was the associate director of the MIT Research Program on Internet & Telecoms Convergence (ITC, http://itc.mit.edu/ ), and was an associate research scholar and assistant professor on the faculty of Columbia University 's Graduate School of Business.

Dr. Lehr's research focuses on the economics and regulatory policy of the Internet infrastructure industries. He teaches courses on the economics, business strategy, and public policy issues facing telecommunications, Internet, and eCommerce companies, and is a frequent speaker at international industry and academic conferences. He has published articles on such topics as the impact of the Internet on the structure of the communications infrastructure industries, telecommunications regulation, and the pricing of Internet services.

He is currently engaged in research on the convergence of the Internet and telecommunication services and the implications for corporate strategy and public policy.

Dr. Lehr holds a PhD in Economics from Stanford (1992), an MBA from the Wharton Graduate School (1985), and MSE (1984), BS (1979) and BA (1979) degrees from the University of Pennsylvania.