Jeff Hughes

Director of the Environmental Finance Center

Jeff Hughes is the Director of the Environmental Finance Center (EFC) housed at the School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The EFC (www.efc.unc.edu) provides applied research, educational programs and advising services to local governments, utilities, non-profit organizations, consulting firms and state and federal agencies. Jeff has twenty-five years of environmental finance and governance experience as an educator, researcher, policy analyst, consultant, and utility practitioner. Jeff is also a faculty member with the School of Government where he teaches courses on environmental finance and policy for university students and practitioners. Jeff’s research and teaching interests include service pricing, economic regulation, and public finance. Jeff is an expert witness for the USEPA Environmental Finance Advisory Board and is an active member of the Council of Infrastructure Financing Authorities.Prior to joining the university, Jeff worked as a finance specialist for RTI International where he managed utility finance and governance projects throughout Central Europe and Africa including a yearlong position as an infrastructure finance advisor to the Polish government. Jeff also worked briefly as a utility director for a small rural community in North Carolina. He received a master’s degree in environmental engineering from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Duke University.