Lord Mayor Professor Michael Mainelli

Alderman Professor Michael Mainelli MStJ PhD MPhil BA FCCA FCSI(Hon) FBCS CITP FIC CMC MEI is Honorary Life Fellow of Gresham College and Emeritus Mercers' School Memorial Professor of Commerce at Gresham College, having held the chair from 2005 to 2009.  

Michael was elected and served as a Sheriff of the City of London for an unique two year term 2019–2021. He is a qualified accountant, securities professional, computer specialist, and management consultant, educated at Harvard University and Trinity College Dublin. He gained his PhD in chaotic systems at the London School of Economics where he was also Visiting Professor of Innovation & IT.  Originally a research scientist in aerospace (rocket science) and computing (architecture & cartography), after directing mapping projects in Switzerland he became a senior partner with accountants BDO Binder Hamlyn directing global consulting, and Corporate Development Director for Europe’s largest R&D firm, then the Ministry of Defence’s 14,000 strong Defence Evaluation & Research Agency. During a mergers & acquisitions spell in merchant banking with Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, he founded Z/Yen in 1994, the City of London’s leading think-tank, promoting societal advance through better finance and technology, renowned for its Global Financial, Green Finance, and Smart Centres indices.

Michael is Executive Chairman of Z/Yen Group, FS Club, and the Esop Centre; Senior Independent Director of the United Kingdom Accreditation Service and AIM-listed Wishbone Gold plc; Alderman for Broad Street Ward of the City of London; City & Guilds Council Member; Trustee of Morden College; Fellow of Goodenough College; Visiting Professor at UCL’s Bartlett School. Michael has advised numerous governments and cities around the world. Awards include a UK Foresight Challenge Award for the Financial Laboratory; UK Smart Award for prediction software; Technology Strategy Board Challenge Award for financial avatars; British Computer Society Director of the Year; Gentiluomo of the Associazione Cavalieri di San Silvestro; Consigliere del Senato Accademico of L’Accademia Tiberina; ‘Hons’ award from the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment; Member of the Order of St John; Honorary Fellow of King’s College London. He is a liveryman and past master of the Worshipful Company of World Traders, a craft owning freeman of the Company of Watermen & Lightermen, an honorary liveryman of the Worshipful Companies of Furniture Makers, Water Conservators, Marketors, Tax Advisers, International Bankers, Educators, Management Consultants, and Security Professionals.
 
Michael has published over 60 journal and 200 commercial articles. His third book with Ian Harris, The Price of Fish: A New Approach to Wicked Economics and Better Decisions, won the 2012 Independent Publisher Book Awards Finance, Investment & Economics Gold Prize. Michael’s interests include skiing, woodcarving, bagpipes, glassblowing, and racing boats & barges, sitting on the world’s oldest sailing racing body, the Thames Match. With his wife, Elisabeth, and he restored the Thames Sailing Barge Lady Daphne from 1996-2017.  With an international family, he speaks English, German, French, Dutch, and Italian poorly, but even worse Mandarin.

Professor Mainelli took office as the 695th Lord Mayor of the City of London in November 2023.