Ron Dembo

File:Dr. Ron Dembo.jpg

Dr. Ron Dembo, 2021

Ron Samuel Dembo is an academic and entrepreneur.

Academia

Dembo formerly served as a professor at Yale University.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> During this time, he held joint appointments in both the Department of Computer Science and the School of Management.Template:Citation needed He co-authored three Technical Reports at Yale's Dept. of Computer Science in 1984.<ref>

 Template:Cite web

</ref>

Dembo's scholarly contributions encompass a diverse range of subjects, including finance and mathematical optimization. He is listed as inventor for patents in fields such as computational finance, climate change, and software engineering.Template:Citation needed

Entrepreneurship

Dembo was founder and CEO of Algorithmics Incorporated.Template:Citation needed Algorithmics was sold to Fitch in 2005Template:Citation needed and later to IBM in 2012.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It has since been acquired by SS&C.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2005, Dembo founded Zerofootprint Software, a Toronto-based, cleantech software and services company.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In the same year, he founded the non-profit Zerofootprint Foundation<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> which won gold in the Climate Change category at the Canadian Environment Awards in 2008.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2009, Dembo also established the ZERO prize, a one million dollar prize for a design to retrofit a concrete building built between 1945 and 1990.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

He currently sits on a number of boards,Template:Citation needed is a member of the Climate Change Adaptation Advisory Committee Canada,Template:Citation needed and was appointed to the Steering Committee of the World Urban Campaign, coordinated by UN-Habitat.Template:Citation needed

Awards and honors

In May 2007, Dembo was made a lifetime Fields Institute Fellow.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This fellowship is awarded to "individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the Fields Institute," its programs, and to the Canadian mathematical community. Dembo's alma mater, the University of Waterloo, honored Dembo with a Distinguished Alumni Achievement Medal for Professional Achievement in business and climate change in 2007.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2008, he received a Green Toronto Award from the City of Toronto for his work with Zerofootprint,Template:Citation needed as well as a Certificate of Recognition, Champion of Green from the Government of Ontario.Template:Citation needed

In 2009 and 2010, Dembo participated in the Steering Committee of the World Urban Campaign, as coordinated by UN Habitat, in Barcelona,<ref>

 Template:Cite conference

</ref> Paris,<ref>

 Template:Cite conference

</ref> and Rio de Janeiro.<ref>

 Template:Cite conference

</ref> In 2024, Zerofootprint remains a Partner in the Business and Industries Constituency of the World Urban Campaign by UN Habitat.<ref>

 Template:Cite web

</ref>

Books

Dembo is the author of Seeing Tomorrow: Rewriting the Rules of Risk, co-authored with Andrew Freeman, published in April 1998;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Upside Downside: Simple Rules of Risk Management for the Smart Investor, co-authored with Daniel Stoffman, published in March 2006;<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and Risk Thinking, published in 2021.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>