John D. Kasarda is an American academic and airport business consultant focused on aviation-driven economic development. He is a faculty member at the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School, the CEO of Aerotropolis Business Concepts LLC (an airport-economy consulting firm[1]) and the President of the Aerotropolis Institute in China.[2] He was the founding editor-in-chief of Logistics,[3] an open-access journal published by MDPI. Kasarda is often referred to as "father of the aerotropolis".[4][5][6]