Michael Raymond Mainelli (born 19 December 1958) is an American-born

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

scientist, economist, and accountant, known for being

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of Z/Yen,

Sheriff of the City of London Two Sheriffs of the City of London are elected annually by the members of the City livery companies. Today's Sheriffs have only ceremonial duties, but the historical officeholders held important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ...

for 2019–21, and the 695th

Lord Mayor of the City of London Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

for 2023/24. An

Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

Professor of Commerce of

Gresham College Gresham College is an institution of higher learning located at Barnard's Inn Hall off Holborn in Central London, England that does not accept students or award degrees. It was founded in 1597 under the Will (law), will of Sir Thomas Gresham, ...

, and founder of the Long Finance initiative, Mainelli has been

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

for Broad Street

Ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

since 4 July 2013, and was elected

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

on 24 June 2019, serving for two terms.

Early life and education

His mother, Katherine ( Smith), and father, Michael Mainelli, are

Irish American Irish Americans () are Irish ethnics who live within in the United States, whether immigrants from Ireland or Americans with full or partial Irish ancestry. Irish immigration to the United States From the 17th century to the mid-19th c ...

and

Italian American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

respectively, and his paternal grandmother is of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

descent Descent may refer to: As a noun Genealogy and inheritance * Common descent, concept in evolutionary biology * Kinship, one of the major concepts of cultural anthropology **Pedigree chart or family tree **Ancestry **Lineal descendant **Heritage ** ...

. His father worked as a

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

, and at one time was a project manager on the

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

capsule for

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

. From 1973 to 1977, Mainelli attended Bishop Moore High School in

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

, where he was first introduced to computing, and spent three summers working as a programmer for

Martin Marietta The Martin Marietta Corporation was an American company founded in 1961 through the merger of Glenn L. Martin Company and American-Marietta Corporation. In 1995, it merged with Lockheed Corporation to form Lockheed Martin. History Martin Marie ...

missile guidance Missile guidance refers to a variety of methods of guiding a missile or a guided bomb to its intended target. The missile's target accuracy is a critical factor for its effectiveness. Guidance systems improve missile accuracy by improving its P ...

system A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its open system (systems theory), environment, is described by its boundaries, str ...

s. Mainelli attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

where he was a resident of Dunster House and graduated with a BA degree in Government in 1984, including a year reading Engineering and Mathematics at

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

(1980/81). Mainelli later completed an

MPhil A Master of Philosophy (MPhil or PhM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. The name of the degree is most often abbreviated MPhil (or, at times, as PhM in other countries). MPhil are awarded to postgraduate students after completing at least ...

(1997) and

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

(2004) at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

chaotic systems Chaos theory is an interdisciplinary area of scientific study and branch of mathematics. It focuses on underlying patterns and deterministic laws of dynamical systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions. These were once thought to ...

with a

doctor Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

titled ''Development of a risk-reward meta-methodology'', under the supervision of Ian Angell.

Career

Early career

Mainelli's early research in aerospace and computer graphics at the

Harvard Laboratory for Computer Graphics and Spatial Analysis The Harvard Laboratory for Computer Graphics and Spatial Analysis (1965 to 1991) pioneered early cartography, cartographic and architectural computer applications that led to integrated GIS, geographic information systems (GIS). Some of the Labor ...

led him to start Swiss companies in seismology, cartography, and energy information for

Petroconsultants Petroconsultants was an oil and gas exploration and scouting information company formed in 1968 in Geneva to take over the activities of Harry Wassall and Associates, which was founded in Havana in 1956. Petroconsultants collected information about ...

, an oil and gas information services company, from 1979 to 1984. He produced Mundocart, a complete 1:1,000,000 digital map of the world for use in

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

map A map is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships, commonly spatial, between things within a space. A map may be annotated with text and graphics. Like any graphic, a map may be fixed to paper or other durable media, or may be displayed on ...

ping in 1983, while directing the Geodat

cartography Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

project. Mainelli left Petroconsultants in 1985, and joined

Arthur Andersen Arthur Andersen LLP was an American accounting firm based in Chicago that provided auditing, tax advising, consulting and other professional services to large corporations. By 2001, it had become one of the world's largest multinational corpo ...

a year later as a senior manager. He later became a

senior partner A partnership is an agreement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments or combinations. Organizations m ...

and board member of the accountancy firm BDO Binder Hamlyn from 1987 to 1995. While co-founding Z/Yen in 1994, Mainelli pursued

merchant bank A merchant bank is historically a bank dealing in commercial loans and investment. In modern British usage, it is the same as an investment bank. Merchant banks were the first modern banks and evolved from medieval merchants who traded in comm ...

ing with

Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Deutsch ( , ) or Deutsche ( , ) may refer to: * or : the German language or in particular Standard German, spoken in central European countries and other places *Old High German language refers to Deutsch as a way to define the primary characteris ...

and was Corporate Development Director at the UK Ministry of Defence's

Defence Evaluation and Research Agency The Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) was a part of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) between 1995 and 2 July 2001. At the time it was the United Kingdom's largest science and technology organisation. It was regarded by its official h ...

(now largely

Qinetiq QinetiQ ( as in '' kinetic'') is a British defence technology company headquartered in Farnborough, Hampshire. It operates primarily in the defence, security and critical national infrastructure markets and run testing and evaluation capabili ...

and the

Defence Science and Technology Laboratory The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) is an executive agency of the Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is "to maximise the impact of science and technology for the defence and security of the UK". The a ...

). At Z/Yen, Mainelli established the

Global Financial Centres Index The Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) ranks the competitiveness of financial centres based on over 29,000 assessments from an online questionnaire and over 100 indices from organisations such as the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co ...

, the London Accord, Long Finance, the Global Intellectual Property Index, the Global Green Finance Index, the Smart Centres Index, the Farsight Award, and other financial services initiatives. His area of current research includes Distributed Futures and he speaks on his research on 'smart ledgers' (''aka''

blockchains The blockchain is a distributed ledger with growing lists of records (''blocks'') that are securely linked together via cryptographic hashes. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp, and transaction data (g ...

) as well as other technologies.

Present day

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

and

Trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...

of Gresham College, Mainelli is a visiting professor of UCL's Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, Honorary Fellow of

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, an Economic and Business Faculty Fellow of

Goodenough College Goodenough College is a postgraduate residence and educational trust in Mecklenburgh Square in Bloomsbury, central London, England. Other names under which the college has been known are London House, William Goodenough House, and the London Go ...

, and a former

Visiting Professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting scientist, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic fo ...

of the

. He is the current Chairman of Z/Yen Group. In 2005 Mainelli, in conjunction with Gresham College, the City of London Corporation and financial institutions, launched Long Finance's London Accord, an agreement to share environmental, social and governance research with policy makers and the public. Mainelli has lectured on new concepts of money and the role of government, publishing 28 one-hour Gresham lectures, while serving as Professor of Commerce from 2005 to 2009. The theme of his programme was "Society’s Commercial Choice – Risks and Rewards of Markets". Mainelli is a

chartered certified accountant The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is the global professional accounting body offering the Chartered Certified Accountant qualification (CCA). Founded in 1904, It is now the fourth-largest professional accounting body ...

( FCCA), computer specialist (

FBCS Sir Maurice Wilkes served as the first President of BCS in 1957. The British Computer Society (BCS), branded BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, since 2009, is a professional body and a learned society that represents those working in ...

, CITP), securities professional ( Hon. FCSI) and management consultant ( FIMC, CMC). He is a non-executive Director of the

United Kingdom Accreditation Service The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) is the sole national Accredited registrar, accreditation body recognised by the Government of the United Kingdom, British government to assess the competence of organisations that provide certific ...

and Wishbone Gold plc, an

AIM AIM or Aim may refer to: Computing * AIM alliance, an Apple-IBM-Motorola alliance * AIM (software), AOL Instant Messenger * Fortyfive, a Japanese software development company previously known as AIM Military * Abrams Integrated Management, an ...

-quoted company. He has been an international member of the International Financial Services Industry Advisory Committee to the Office of the Taoiseach –

Dublin, Ireland Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

since 2015. In 2015 he was elected a . In 2020, having served as a Trustee from 2008, he received Honorary Life Fellowship of Gresham College. He has held advisory posts at

City, University of London City, University of London was a public university from 1966 to 2024 in London, England. It merged with St George's, University of London to form City St George's, University of London in August 2024. The names "City, University of London" an ...

, Hitachi UK, and

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury or HMT), and informally referred to as the Treasury, is the Government of the United Kingdom’s economic and finance ministry. The Treasury is responsible for public spending, financial services policy, Tax ...

. Mainelli was elected an

Honorary An honorary position is one given as an honor, with no duties attached, and without payment. Other uses include: * Honorary Academy Award, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, United States * Honorary Aryan, a status in Nazi Germany ...

Bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher c ...

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in February 2023, and was appointed President of the

London Chamber of Commerce & Industry The London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) is a business organization based in London, founded in 1882. It provides support for its members’ businesses through services and advocates on behalf of London’s business community. The Cham ...

on 15 January 2025.

City of London

Aldermanic and Shrieval career

First elected

for Broad Street Ward on the

City of London Corporation The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the local authority of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United Kingdom's f ...

in 2013, Mainelli is a Past Master of the

Worshipful Company of World Traders The Worshipful Company of World Traders is one of the 113 Livery Companies of the City of London. The Guild of World Traders was constructed in 1985 and it became a Company in 1993. Its petition for livery status was granted by the Court of ...

(for 2017–18), and an Honorary Liveryman of the Furniture Makers', Water Conservators', Marketors', Tax Advisers', Management Consultants', Security Professionals', Engineers', Chartered Architects', Playing Card Makers', International Bankers', and Scientific Instrument Makers'

Companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether natural, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specifi ...

, an Honorary Freeman of the Educators' Company, and of the Company of Entrepreneurs. A Craft-Owning Freeman of the

Company of Watermen and Lightermen The Company of Watermen and Lightermen (CWL) is a historic City guild in the City of London. However, unlike the city's 111 livery companies, CWL does not have a grant of livery. Its meeting rooms are at Waterman's Hall on St Mary at Hill, Londo ...

, he is also the sponsoring Alderman for the Company of Communicators in their process of obtaining full livery status. On the 19 December 2024, Mainelli was elected to a third term as Alderman for Broad Street Ward. Mainelli was elected

on 24 June 2019, assuming office on 27 September 2019. In view of the global disruption to public life brought about by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Mainelli was re-elected, on 24 June 2020, to serve a second term as Sheriff of London for 2021.

Lord Mayor of the City of London

On 29 September 2023, Mainelli was elected

, and took office on 10 November 2023, becoming the first American-born person to do so. Mainelli's mayoral theme was 'Connect To Prosper', an initiative that aimed to highlight the City of London's ability to solve global challenges. It championed the "scientific, academic and business worlds", going beyond the traditional support of finance and professional services usually associated with the role.

Writing

Mainelli has published more than 50 journal articles, 250 commercial articles and four books, including the novel ''Clean Business Cuisine: Now and Z/Yen'', written with Ian Harris. Mainelli's economics book, ''The Price of Fish'', also written with Ian Harris, applied his Gresham lecture series ideas to "

wicked problems In planning and policy, a wicked problem is a problem that is difficult or impossible to solve because of incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements that are often difficult to recognize. It refers to an idea or problem that cannot be f ...

Publications

Novels

* Michael Mainelli and Ian Harris
''Clean Business Cuisine: Now and Z/Yen''
Milet Publishing (2000), , 160 pages.

Non-fiction

* Abdeldjellil Bouzidi and Michael Mainelli
''L'Innovation Financière Au Service Du Climat: Les Obligations À Impact Environnemental''
Revue Banque (2017), , 123 pages. * Michael Mainelli and Ian Harris
''The Price of Fish: A New Approach to Wicked Economics and Better Decisions''
Nicholas Brealey Publishing (2011), , 328 pages * Ian Harris and Michael Mainelli
''Information Technology for the Not-for-Profit Sector''
ICSA Publishing (2001), , 224 pages.

Personal life

Mainelli married Elisabeth ( Reuß, 1964) in 1996. Together they undertook the restoration of the SB ''Lady Daphne'', a

Thames sailing barge A Thames sailing barge is a type of commercial sailing boat once common on the River Thames in London. The flat-bottomed barges, with a shallow draught and leeboards, were perfectly adapted to the Thames Estuary, with its shallow waters and na ...

built in 1923. Mainelli still supports and lectures on sailing barges and their history, having sold the SB ''Lady Daphne'' upon completing renovation in 2017. He is a committee member of the

Thames Sailing Barge Match The Thames Sailing Barge Match is the second oldest sailing race in the world, beaten only by the America's Cup. It starts off Stanford-le-Hope and finishes off the Three Daws public house in Gravesend, Kent, Gravesend on the River Thames, London R ...

, the second oldest sailing race in the world.

Awards and honours

Awards

Department of Trade and Industry Department of Trade and Industry may refer to: Current * Department of Trade and Industry (Isle of Man) * Department of Trade and Industry (Philippines) * Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (South Africa) Former * Department of Trade ...

SMART Award (2003) for Z/Yen's predictive analytics software *

British Computer Society image:Maurice Vincent Wilkes 1980 (3).jpg, Sir Maurice Wilkes served as the first President of BCS in 1957. The British Computer Society (BCS), branded BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, since 2009, is a professional body and a learned ...

IT Director of the Year (2004–05) * Independent Publishers Gold Award for Finance, Investment and Economics (2012) - "The Price of Fish: A New Approach to Wicked Economics and Better Decisions"

Honours

Knight of Justice of the Order of St John The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (), commonly known as the Order of St John, and also known as St John International, is an order of chivalry constituted in 1888 by royal charter from Queen Victoria and dedica ...

(KStJ) – 31 January 2024 ** Member of the Order of St John (MStJ) – 21 October 2019 * Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (OMRI) – 18 October 2024

Arms

References

External links

www.cityoflondon.gov.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mainelli, Michael Living people 1958 births 21st-century British male writers 21st-century lord mayors of London Academics of Gresham College Alumni of the London School of Economics Alumni of Trinity College Dublin American people of Irish descent Bishop Moore High School alumni British male non-fiction writers British people of Italian descent Councilmen and Aldermen of the City of London Harvard College alumni People with multiple citizenship Sheriffs of the City of London British accountants British management consultants American accountants American management consultants Academics of the London School of Economics Academics of University College London 20th-century British businesspeople 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century British businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople 20th-century British economists 21st-century British economists 20th-century American economists 21st-century American economists Knights of Justice of the Order of St John American people of German descent Commanders of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic