Ted London

Ted London is a leading expert on the role and impact of market-based strategies on poverty alleviation. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the William Davidson Institute (WDI) and on the faculty at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. At WDI, he directs the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) Initiative, a program that champions innovative ways of thinking about more inclusive forms of capitalism. In leading this effort, Professor London generates groundbreaking research and actionable recommendations that explore the unique principals, insights, and implications of the BoP perspective on poverty alleviation.

Professor London’s research interests center on enterprise strategies in low income markets, assessment of poverty alleviation impacts, and capability development for cross-sector collaborations. His most recent work involves developing the BoP Impact Assessment Framework. Field tested in India and Mexico, this framework is used to track, evaluate and enhance the poverty alleviation outcomes of existing and new market-based ventures. His research, which emphasizes creating new knowledge that has immediate practical applications, has been published in leading scholarly and practitioner journals.

Prior to coming to the University of Michigan, Professor London was on the faculty at the University of North Carolina, where he was also Director of the Base of the Pyramid Learning Lab. He teaches and lectures in the areas of strategic management, international business and poverty alleviation, and cross-sector partnerships. He has also consulted or served as a management educator or advisor for a variety of organizations including Altria, CARE, CEMEX, Coca-Cola, the Department for International Development (DFID), DuPont, Hewlett-Packard, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Scojo Vision, Unilever, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US-Asia Environmental Partnership.

Prior to pursuing his Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina, Professor London worked for more than a decade in senior management positions in the private, non-profit, and development sectors in Asia, Africa, and the U.S. Much of this work targeted the intersection of business strategy and poverty alleviation. In addition to his Ph.D., he has an MBA from the Peter Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University and a Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Lehigh University.