Dr. Dean Roberts brings more than four decades of leadership in strategy, market intelligence, forecasting, and business development across the global civil aerospace sector. At Rolland Vincent Associates (RVA), he supports clients through strategic planning, product strategy development, and customer insight programs, and authored RVA’s submission to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Section 232 investigation into proposed aviation tariffs.

Before joining RVA, Dr. Roberts spent a distinguished career at Rolls-Royce, where he played a central role in shaping the company’s business aviation strategy and crafting its equity story. His responsibilities included long-range market forecasting across all engine programs, competitive analysis, and developing insights into the pre-owned aircraft market. His work spanned Future Programs, Sales, Marketing, Corporate Development, and Engineering, giving him a uniquely broad perspective on industry dynamics.

Dr. Roberts has been an active industry leader, serving as Chair of the Business Aviation Subcommittee of the U.S. Transportation Research Board (TRB), where he oversaw 10-year consensus forecasting and major industry surveys in partnership with leading OEM analysts. He also contributed to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) Environment Committee, providing market-forecasting guidance for the Business Aviation Commitment on Climate Change (BACCC) in 2021.

A committed educator and thought leader, Dr. Roberts taught for six years at the University of Virginia, offering courses on the global aerospace industry. He is the author the book Entering the Civil Aircraft Industry: Business Realities at the Technological Frontier (2017), and in 2023 was appointed to the Industry Advisory Board of Purdue University’s School of Aviation and Transportation Technology.

Dr. Roberts holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Coventry University and a Ph.D. from Cranfield University, where his research examined barriers to entry in the aerospace sector. He resides in the Washington, D.C., area.