Michael Edesess is an accomplished mathematician and economist with experience in the investment, energy, and sustainable development fields. He is a senior research fellow in the Centre for Systems Informatics Engineering at City University of Hong Kong, principal and chief strategist of DC-based Compendium Finance, research associate of the EDHEC–Risk Institute, and senior fellow and project consultant at two Hong Kong–based think tanks.

He writes regularly for the online journal Advisor Perspectives, coauthored "The 3 Simple Rules of Investing" (Berrett-Koehler 2014) and authored The Big Investment Lie (Berrett-Koehler, 2007). He was a founding partner and chief economist of the Lockwood Financial Group until its 2002 sale to The Bank of New York. Previously a consultant and provider of mathematical computer systems to institutional investors, Dr. Edesess worked with several of the largest banking and consulting firms. He has taught courses in finance, energy and environmental economics, mathematics, and statistics at six universities. He has been interviewed on radio and TV and published in the Wall Street Journal, the Journal of Portfolio Management, and Technology Review, among other publications.

In addition to his work in investments, Dr. Edesess has been active in nonprofit organizations. He chaired the board of International Development Enterprises USA, which focuses on rural smallholders in developing countries, and also chaired the board of Rocky Mountain Institute, a prominent energy efficiency think tank, and the Rocky Mountain Advisory Board of the Environmental Defense Fund. Dr. Edesess holds a bachelor’s degree from MIT and a Ph.D. in pure mathematics from Northwestern University.