Rob Gordon is Director of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, a public service and outreach unit of The University of Georgia created to share in the university’s overarching public service mission of extending our resources of professional knowledge and expertise to help communities improve their quality of life. Fundamental to quality of life in Georgia and around the world is effective, efficient, and responsive governance.
Rob was recently the Director of the Archway Partnership, a public service and outreach unit of The University of Georgia created to enhance the land-grant mission of teaching, research, and service while addressing self-identified community priorities in selected locations across the State of Georgia. The Archway Partnership provides a neutral platform where government and community leaders and groups can come together to discuss the needs of their community and connect to higher education resources, and thus plays a crucial role in serving the state and its local communities while also benefiting university students, teaching, and research.
Rob previously served as the Economic Development and Fiscal Analysis Unit Manager for the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at The University of Georgia where he managed a unit that included the Institute of Government’s Applied Demography Program, Tax and Expenditure Data Center, and Fiscal Analysis Program. He has provided education, research, and technical assistance to the Georgia General Assembly, State of Georgia agencies and offices including the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget, Department of Economic Development and Department of Community Affairs, numerous local city and county governments and various governmental authorities on issues involving economic development, state and local finance, general obligation and revenue bond issuance, special purpose local option sales tax implementation, property tax and related economic incentive transactions, and federal tax and securities issues related to tax-exempt and taxable debt obligations.
More recently, Rob was a member of the Public Finance team at Davenport & Company LLC where he provided financial advisory services to local governments, utilities, authorities, non-profits, and other governmental entities across the State of Georgia. He also served as bond and underwriter’s counsel for nearly $4 billion of tax-exempt and taxable financings while working for King & Spalding LLP in Atlanta, and Troutman Sanders LLP in Richmond, Virginia. In these roles Rob has worked with numerous governmental and private entities, including the State of Georgia, the Commonwealth of Virginia, local cities, counties, school districts and development authorities, non-profit organizations and foundations, higher-education institutions, regional healthcare institutions and hospital systems, and regional transportation authorities.
Rob serves as an instructor for the Carl Vinson Institute of Government’s Development Authority Training Program and frequently teaches a variety of classes for the Association County Commissioners of Georgia and Georgia Municipal Association. He is an Affiliated Faculty member of The University of Georgia’s School of Public and International Affairs where he has regularly taught a graduate-level course on public finance and debt management in the Masters of Public Administration Program.
Rob is the author of “Georgia’s Local Option Sales Tax: A Model for Funding Education Capital Improvements” in STATE TAX NOTES, coauthor of “Fundamentals of Bond Financing in Georgia” in the GEORGIA DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY HANDBOOK, and editor of COMPLIANCE AUDITING IN GEORGIA COUNTIES AND MUNICIPALITIES: A Practical Guide to State Laws for Auditors and Local Government Officials.
Rob received his J.D. degree, with honors, from The George Washington University Law School and his bachelor’s degree in finance from The University of Georgia. He is a member in good standing of the State Bar of Georgia and the Virginia State Bar. Prior to attending law school, Rob served the U.S. Department of State as a Special Agent with the Diplomatic Security Service. His assignments included the San Francisco Field Office, the U.S. Embassy in Tirana, Albania, and the Secretary of State’s Protective Detail for Secretary Madeline K. Albright and Secretary Colin
L. Powell.
Rob is a graduate of the Leadership Georgia class of 2013 and was a Leadership Georgia Program Chairman in 2014. He lives in Athens, Georgia with his wife, Dr. Leslie Gordon, and children, Lily (8) and Will (4).
